French directorial and design collective Wizz has joined the roster of New York animation production company Blacklist for U.S. representation. Paris-based Wizz has already wrapped its first job in collaboration with Blacklist–Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Founded in 1999, Wizz was initially a postproduction and visual effects branch for its sister company Quad Productions. Wizz’s clientele has since expanded to incorporate other productions with ad agencies or directly with clients. Mixed media studio Wizz now consists of more than 30 full-time employees including two teams of production and post directors, as well as graphic artists, Flame artists and developers. Over the last three years, Wizz has represented and developed 15 directors. Apart from various advertising projects, Wizz has also produced shorts and films.
Among the key players at Wizz are chief creative officer/co-founder Francois Brun, executive producer Cyril Couve de Murville, and producers Amanda Stubbs, Matthieu Poirier and Olivier Domerc.
According to Blacklist exec producer Andrew Linsk, Wizz has a second round with Goodby on Yahoo! Mail, this time a four-spot package slated to break in early May. Blacklist and Wizz also teamed on a cinema project for Orville Redenbacher out of Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, and are currently in production on a global Energizer campaign via TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles.
Here’s Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” directed by Wizz’s Deubal:
Directing and Editing “Conclave”; Insights From Edward Berger and Nick Emerson
It’s been a bruising election year but this time we’re referring to a ballot box struggle that’s more adult than the one you’d typically first think of in 2024. Rather, on the industry awards front, the election being cited is that of the Pope which takes front and center stage in director Edward Berger’s Conclave (Focus Features), based on the 2016 novel of the same title by Robert Harris. Adapted by screenwriter Peter Straugham, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal leading the conclave that has convened to select the next Pope. While part political thriller, full of backstabbing and behind-closed-door machinations, Conclave also registers as a thoughtful adult drama dealing with themes such as a crisis of faith, weighing the greater good, and engaging in a struggle that’s as much about spirituality as the attainment of power.
Conclave is Berger’s first feature after his heralded All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of four Oscars in 2023, including for Best International Feature Film. And while Conclave would on the surface seem to be quite a departure from that World War I drama, there’s a shared bond of humanity which courses through both films.
For Berger, the heightened awareness of humanity hit home for him by virtue of where he was--in Rome, primarily at the famed Cinecittà studio--to shoot Conclave, sans any involvement from the Vatican. He recalled waking up in Rome to “soak up” the city. While having his morning espresso, Berger recollected looking out a window and seeing a priest walking about with a cigarette in his mouth, a nun having a cup of coffee, an archbishop carrying a briefcase. It dawned on Berger that these were just people going to... Read More