Saville Productions, Beverly Hills, has signed filmmaker John Cameron Mitchell for commercial representation. Mitchell is the acclaimed director of Hedwig and the Angry Inch and last years’ highly controversial film, Shortbus.
Mitchell initially started out as an actor appearing in theater, numerous television series and movies before moving into directing. In 1998, he wrote Hedwig and the Angry Inch, an off Broadway musical play about Hedwig, a transgendered rock musician chasing after an ex-lover who plagiarized her songs. Three years later, he directed the feature film version of the play, casting himself as Hedwig. The film and play were critical hits and have each spawned a cult following. Mitchell received the best director and Audience awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Grand Prix at Deauville. The film was honored as best directorial debut by the National Board of Review and the L.A. Film Critics Society. Mitchell was also nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor.
After the success of Hedwig, Mitchell expressed an interest in financing, writing, and directing a film which would incorporate explicit sex in a naturalistic way. That movie would be called Shortbus. Completed in ’06 after a two-year long talent search and shooting process, it was presented in May ’06 at the Cannes Film Festival. Shortbus also won awards at the Zurich, Athens and Gijon Film Festivals.
Mitchell has directed music videos for Bright Eyes and Scissor Sisters. For the latter he helmed “Filthy/Gorgeous,” which was banned from American MTV for its explicit sexual content. He also directed the video for Bright Eyes’ “First Day of My Life” which has had more than 330,000 views on Youtube.
“John’s work is bold, provocative and highly entertaining. This is a perfect combination to make great ads or longer branded content film,” said Johnny Doran, Saville’s executive producer. “Also, having been an actor for so long, John has a wonderful rapport with talent resulting in convincing performances”
Mitchell’s latest film in development is a modern fairy tale called Oskur Fishman.
DGA Feature Nominees: Audiard, Baker, Berger, Corbet and Mangold
The field of feature nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards spanning two categories is set. Nominated for the DGA honor for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are: Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker for Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and James Mangold for A Complete Unknown.
The DGA also revealed the nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. The first-time narrative feature directors are: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Megan Park for My Old Ass, RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys, Halfdan Ullman Tondel for Armand, and Sean Wang for Diddy.
“2024 has been a truly extraordinary year for storytelling--and today’s nominees have created audacious and unique films that expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special.”
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8.
Here’s a fuller rundown of the nominees in both DGA Award categories:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
JACQUES AUDIARD
Emilia Pérez
(Netflix)
SEAN... Read More