Executive producer Kala Sherman and creative director/composer Dave Wittman, former collaborators at Elias Arts, have teamed to launch music production company Travis + Maude.
Sherman and Wittman collectively have over two decades of experience creating original compositions for commercials, feature films and web content, having worked with clients such as Nike, Pepsi and Taco Bell. At their new venture, which is named after Sherman’s two hounds, they have already contributed to a pair of World Cup spots for ESPN, “Time Zone” and “Global Issues,” out of Wieden+Kennedy, New York.
Maintaining relationships with top-tier record label executives, publishers, artists and songwriters, Wittman and Sherman will combine these affiliations with their knowledge of agency operations to act as a conduit between artists and brands. “The idea is to make music an active part of the process again. It’s one of the most powerful and impactful parts of good creative work, but it’s also extremely subjective. The trick is to take all the resources and opportunities out there and make sense of them for our clients,” said Wittman who also brings digital savvy to the mix. His viral video “Whole Foods Parking Lot” has more than five million views on YouTube.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More