Multi-hyphenate talent Thaddeus McCants has joined O Positive Films for commercial representation. McCants is an accomplished screenwriter, playwright, performer and director.
McCants has directed select assignments as a freelancer via O Positive, including an HP "After School" spot for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. He now comes aboard the O Positive roster, marking his first career representation as a director in the advertising market.
McCants' very first commercial was the 2022 “Coliseum Tailgate” Super Bowl spot for Avocados From Mexico (which he co-directed with David Shane), filmed during the COVID pandemic.
“No big deal, just a period piece on a mountain in Mexico City with a ton of moving parts,” O Positive’s Shane recalled. “I'm talking 150 extras, oxen, horses, chariots, stunts. And, of course, I got COVID the week before and missed the first shoot day. Racked with guilt, I flew there that night, telling myself over and over again that I had to save Thaddeus. And when I pulled up the next morning, he’s on a bullhorn directing traffic like Cecil B. DeMille, and I found myself thinking, ‘Who's saving who?’ It takes him a day to absorb the lessons it took me a decade to learn. It's very annoying.”
McCants has gone on to direct commercials on his own, including multiple spots for Progressive’s Replay campaign, among them, "Game Plans" and the newly released "Watch Party," with Kid ‘n Play. They reflect his talent for crafting performances and delivering comedic dialogue.
McCants' credits include eclectic experience in entertainment, with work spanning multiple genres and comedic styles. This year he wrote episode 6 of season 2 of Julia on HBO Max and created his own upcoming original series Lit Lounge for BET. He’s written multiple AUDIBLE originals with James Patterson & VICE Media. He’s directed TV pilots and short films for fellow UCB comics (where he used to be on the NYC Mainstage). He’s been seen as an actor in Boardwalk Empire, in the original cast of Disney’s Freaky Friday the musical and in several other off-Broadway shows. And as a playwright, he’s been honored as a New York Theatre Workshop 2050 Fellow, a Theater Masters Visionary Playwright, a Blue Ink Award winner and Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference semi-finalist.
It was the theater that led Brooklyn-based McCants to O Positive after he met Shane in the graduate dramatic writing program at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. “It all really started when I told David he had a super cool backpack in the lunchroom,” he recalled. “At the time, I had no idea he was one of the most prolific dudes in the commercial industry. I just knew him as a hilarious writer, a generous classmate and a dude with a sweet Batman lunchbox.”
“Thaddeus is one of the most talented and lovely people I've ever met,” Shane said. “I just kind of vibed with the material he would bring in–smart, funny and 15 degrees off center. I’d always be a little disappointed on the days it wasn’t his turn to share. He has a real voice and that’s something we’re always looking for in our directors.”
“Artistically, O Positive is interested in the same things I am,” McCants said. “Idiosyncratic, human moments of comedy that illuminate brands. At my core, I am a storyteller. I love creating moments that stay with audiences long after the commercial has ended. My unique background (Black and Ashkenazi Jewish, grandson of a Rabbi, son of a Black Panther, Chitlin Circuit meets the Borscht Belt) allows me to bring new perspectives to advertising and new levels of engagement for brands.”
“Above all, I’m a director who values diversity, parity and sustainability,” McCants added. “I’m extremely thankful for the opportunity to direct commercials with O Positive, for the amazing agencies who’ve supported my career so far–GSD&M, Arnold, VMLY&R, Wieden+Kennedy, dentsuMB–and to everyone who is dedicated to creating a more diverse and equitable advertising industry.”
California Gov. Newsom Signs Laws To Protect Actors Against Unauthorized Use Of AI
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed off Tuesday on legislation aiming at protecting Hollywood actors and performers against unauthorized artificial intelligence that could be used to create digital clones of themselves without their consent.
The new laws come as California legislators ramped up efforts this year to regulate the marquee industry that is increasingly affecting the daily lives of Americans but has had little to no oversight in the United States.
The laws also reflect the priorities of the Democratic governor who's walking a tightrope between protecting the public and workers against potential AI risks and nurturing the rapidly evolving homegrown industry.
"We continue to wade through uncharted territory when it comes to how AI and digital media is transforming the entertainment industry, but our North Star has always been to protect workers," Newsom said in a statement. "This legislation ensures the industry can continue thriving while strengthening protections for workers and how their likeness can or cannot be used."
Inspired by the Hollywood actors' strike last year over low wages and concerns that studios would use AI technology to replace workers, a new California law will allow performers to back out of existing contracts if vague language might allow studios to freely use AI to digitally clone their voices and likeness. The law is set to take effect in 2025 and has the support of the California Labor Federation and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, or SAG-AFTRA.
Another law signed by Newsom, also supported by SAG-AFTRA, prevents dead performers from being digitally cloned for commercial purposes without the permission of their estates. Supporters said the law is... Read More