Comedy duo Director Brothers–consisting of Josh Martin and Ryan McNeely–has joined integrated content studio Humble for commercials and branded content in the U.S. Martin and McNeely are Funny or Die veterans. They were part of the original core at Gifted Youth, Funny or Die’s commercial production division, when it opened in 2012. Later, Director Brothers worked via production house Caviar prior to coming aboard the Humble roster.
The duo has written and directed projects for HBO, Comedy Central, Comedy Bang Bang Productions, Ed Helms’ Electric Picture Company, and many more. Along the way they’ve worked as writers, creatives, and directors on projects including Old Milwaukee with Will Ferrell and Jose Canseco, Kia Optima with Jeff Goldblum and Blake Griffin, Pepto Bismol with Dr. Ken, Pepsi Test Drive with Jeff Gordon, Captain Crunch with Burt Reynolds and Tone Loc, and Skull Candy with Kate Upton, James Harden, Kevin Durant, and Big Boi.
A multi-talented storyteller, McNeely studied experimental and underground filmmaking with a focus in cinematography and design at CSF in New Mexico. He spent years early in his career as an animator and founded his own animation/VFX studio, Visual Creatures. After that, McNeely went on to work as a DP for several years where he shot commercials, music videos, and televisions shows.
Martin earned a degree in directing and producing from The Los Angeles Film School and dove head first into the industry. He got his start producing for sketch group Honor Student who went on to create digital comedy shorts for UCB, Super Deluxe, Funny or Die, and HBO.
The directing duo describes its first meeting on a shoot for Funny or Die at Wayne Newton’s house between a penguin and a monkey on a couch. They became fast friends and a partnership immediately formed over a love for exotic animals and 1980s and ‘90s film and television.
In December of 2017 the duo directed the widely anticipated special for Comedy Central, Fake News with Ted Nelms. Director Brothers’ recent collaboration with Funny or Die for anti-corruption non-profit, Represent.Us, stars Jack Black and Ed Helms and calls for people to come together to pass anti-corruption laws that stop political bribery, end secret money and fix our broken elections.
“Josh and Ryan have been powerhouses in the comedy world for years and their passion for filmmaking makes for an exciting addition to the Humble roster,” said Rich Pring, company managing director/EP who noted that the duo has already hit the ground running on several projects.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More