Daniel Cox–who created and directed the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership’s “Embrace Life” PSA which won a Bronze Lion at the recently concluded Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival–has joined Hungry Man for representation as a director worldwide except for Canada where he continues to be handled by Spy Films.
“Embrace Life” shows a father sitting in his living room, playing and laughing with his family as he pretends to drive a vehicle. He exchanges loving glances with his nearby wife and daughter. Suddenly his facial expression changes as he braces for an impending accident. Immediately his family comes to the rescue. The girl embraces him around the waist, serving as a seatbelt. His wife embraces him diagonally across the chest, serving as a shoulder belt harness. The impact rocks them but all are secure and safe, the human safety belt saving his life.
Cox spearheaded the PSA from start to finish. It sprang from his learning that the Sussex Safer Roads Partnership was looking to produce a positive public service message. He came up with the idea and assembled a team under the Alexander Commercials banner in the U.K. to bring the project to fruition. Cox wrote, directed and edited “Embrace Life,” with Sarah Alexander producing the job. Alexander Commercials was hybrid ad agency/production house on “Embrace Life” but his prime spotmaking and branded content roost from now on is Hungry Man.
The PSA, which debuted in the local Sussex area back in January, has since gone onto attain more than 10 million views online, the Cannes Film Lion honor in the Public Health & Safety category, as well as Gold at the New York International Advertising Awards in Shanghai.
Hungry Man got wind of Cox upon catching him being interviewed about the PSA on CNN. The production house then sought him out, ultimately resulting in his coming aboard its directorial roster.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More