Bicoastal Original Film has brought filmmakers Peter Lydon and Rupert Wainwright aboard its roster. Lydon was most recently repped for spots by Hungry Man, while Wainwright joins Original following three years at bicoastal Saville Productions.
Although known primarily for his comedy ads, Lydon actually got his start directing documentaries for the BBC. He turned that knack for finding the drama in everyday lives to directing episodic television including the popular British shows Shameless and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, as well as the upcoming four-part miniseries Garrow’s Law about the pioneering barrister William Garrow that will air next month on the BBC.
Lydon’s ad work includes recent spots for the Discovery Channel, Ikea and a package for Sky TV.
“I really enjoy transferring my skills from the world of TV into making commercials,” said Lydon. “In particular my experience with actors in long form comedy has really rubbed off in my comedy spots. That, combined with a desire to bring a cinematic look to the work, helps to set them apart. Many comedy spots have a tendency to look a little flat. I try to bring a little more gloss, a little more visual daring, but always with a strong performance.”
Rupert Wainwright
Wainwright began his career directing high-profile music videos for such artists as Michael Jackson, NWA and MC Hammer. The helmer then diversified into commercials (Reebok, AT&T, Sega, Sprite, and Russia’s 2014 Winter Olympics bid) and feature films (Stigmata, The Fog, The Sadness of Sex) and TV (NBC’s Fear Itself).
Wainwright said he was drawn to Original based on its creative reputation and its involvement in not only traditional commercialmaking but other new forms of content in the advertising/marketing arena.
Original is headed by exec producers/partners Bruce Mellon, Jeff Devlin and Joe Piccirillo.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More