Director Matt Aselton, executive producer Marc Marrie and managing director Mal Ward have teamed to launch Arts & Sciences, a bicoastal production house. The trio comes over from Epoch Films and each will serve as a managing partner of Arts & Sciences, working out of its West Hollywood, Calif. office.
Aselton joined Epoch’s directorial roster in 2004, helming assorted commercials, and writing and directing his first feature film, Gigantic, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in ’08. Ward had been Epoch’s head of sales since ’02, and Marrie produced noted spots with Epoch for 11 years.
Aselton, Marrie and Ward’s new venture can access the back room operations (to reduce overhead) as well as the feature film division of Epoch Films, which is supportive of Arts & Sciences’ endeavors. Already Arts & Sciences has turned out several jobs and added to its directorial lineup. On the latter score, the company signed independent feature director Azazel Jacobs whose credits include Momma’s Man and The GoodTimesKid. Jacobs’ most recent feature, Terri, premiered at Sundance and will be released theatrically next month.
As for the alluded to projects produced by Arts & Sciences, thus far they include the Carl’s Jr. launch campaign for david&goliath, ESPN for Wieden+Kennedy, New York, and a package of three Jet Blue commercials for Mullen, Boston. All the work was directed by Aselton. Among the JetBlue fare was “Middle Seat,” a :30 which earned SHOOT Top Spot distinction (SHOOT, 5/6) and featured fast talker John Moschitta who’s famed in the ad biz for his 1981 Federal Express commercial “Fast Paced World,” directed by the legendary Joe Sedelmaier.
Furthermore at press time, Arts & Sciences was in production on a new launch for Toyota via Saatchi & Saatchi LA, also being helmed by Aselton.
Arts & Sciences will be represented by Representation Co’s Tara Averill and John Robertson on the East Coast, and Dexter Randazzo and Irma Rodriguez on the West Coast. Marguerite Juliusson will handle sales in the Midwest.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More