Documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock (the Oscar-nominated Super Size Me) has teamed his New York-based production company Warrior Poets with producer Keith Calder’s L.A.-headquartered Snoot Entertainment and spot production veteran Shannon Lords to create Warpaint, a commercial production house with bases of operation in N.Y., L.A. and London.
The new venture opens with a roster of nine directors: Spurlock (The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, Comic-Con: Episode IV-A Fan’s Hope, Mansome, spots for JetBlue, Hunt’s); Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes); Gary Hustwit (Helvetica, Objectified, Apple): Adam Wingard (You’re Next); Liz Garbus (Bobby Fischer Against the World); Adam Lisegar (LonelySandwich.com); Michael Tucker (Fightville, Gunner Palace, Mastercard); Maggie Choo (Nike) and Damien Toogood (Olympus, Target, Pepsi).
Furthermore Warpaint has wrapped its first project, a Revlon campaign directed by Darren Aronofsky and featuring Emma Stone and Halle Berry. Aronofsky, a Best Director Oscar nominee last year for Black Swan, is no stranger to spotmaking. Via production house Wild Plum, he helmed a Meth Project public service campaign for digital marketing agency Organic (SHOOTonline, 11/8/11).
For Spurlock, starting a commercial production company only seemed a logical, natural extension of his recent pursuits, “After working directly with brands and advertising agencies in the placement exposé The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, as well as directing multiple commercial spots for other production companies, I saw an opportunity to create a much more director-driven entity. Within Warpaint, our directors will have the freedom to not only experiment with new technologies and formats, but they will also own a larger stake in their work moving forward,” said Spurlock.
As for his alluded to commercial directing experience, Spurlock while making The Greatest Movie Ever Sold took a quick break to helm spots for Hunt’s Tomato Sauce out of New York agency Nitro via Saville Productions. The spots featured chef George Duran dropping in on the Glen Cove (NY) Volunteer Fire Department with Hunt’s to help make lasagna for the firefighters. Spurlock’s other ad credits include such clients as Ally and JetBlue.
Calder, who produced Greatest Movie alongside Warrior Poets and Spurlock’s producing partner, Jeremy Chilnick, loved the idea of forming a commercial production company from the beginning. “At Snoot, we have dipped our toes in advertising and branded content before, but we were waiting for the right partners before diving in headfirst. After a fantastic experience on The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, we’re delighted to be establishing Warpaint with Morgan and Shannon,” said Calder.
Commercial veteran Shannon Lords has been pursued by multiple production companies over the years to become a full time executive, but never felt that the timing was right. After working with Spurlock, that all changed. “I had considered other staff positions, but after working with Morgan and his unique approach to commercials, the decision to get involved with Warpaint was an easy one,” said Lords. “Opportunities to work with directors who are true filmmakers don’t come along often, so when the opportunity arose I jumped at it.” Over the years, Lords has worked with such directors as Bryan Singer, Barry Levinson, Spike Lee, Wim Wenders, Zack Snyder, Michael Bay, Noam Murro, Joe Pytka, Samuel Bayer and Steve Miller.
FireAid Concert Features Major Music Stars, Shares Stories Of Loss To Raise Money For L.A. Wildfire Relief
Pop stars, first responders, rock stars and those who've lost everything in the devastating LA-area wildfires came together for FireAid, a massive benefit concert Thursday that combined spectacular performances with moving storytelling from survivors and reminders of the destruction.
In a night full of surprises, a reunion of Nirvana — fronted by St. Vincent, Kim Gordon and Joan Jett in the place of the late Kurt Cobain — tops the list. They launched into "Breed," "School" and "Territorial Pissings" respectively, inspired and unexpected choices.
Drummer Dave Grohl's daughter, Violet, then emerged on stage for "All Apologies."
Closer Lady Gaga, after powering through the Oscar-award winning "Shallow" and "Always Remember Us This Way" from "A Star Is Born," played a new song on the piano. "It's just for tonight, it's just for you," she said of the song she wrote with fiancé businessman Michael Polansky. "Time is a healer."
"All I need is time," she sang in the folk-y pop chorus. "To heal my broken wings and then I'll soar."
Green Day kicked off the massive show by launching into "Last Night on Earth" at the Kia Forum and were soon joined by Billie Eilish for the first surprise of the night. The lyrics are surprisingly astute: "If I lose everything in the fire / I'm sending all my love to you."
After their set, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong hugged actor Billy Crystal, who was there to welcome to the crowd at the Kia Forum.
"Our goal is simple tonight, to spend more money than the Dodgers spent on free agents," he joked. He told the audience U2 offered the first big donation of the night: $1 million dollars.
Crystal said he was wearing the clothes he had on when he evacuated. He lost his home in... Read More