Comedy director Andrew French, who began his career in the MTV promo department before going on to establish himself as a spot helmer, has joined Pictures in a Row, a Hollywood house headed by executive producer David Quartararo and owned by director Peter Lang.
French has already wrapped his first job at Pictures in a Row: an AT&T campaign out of DDB Chicago promoting a “Stretch” feature that translates voicemail into text messages.
The director was most recently repped by Mirror. He began his commercial directing career as one-half of the directing duo Spooner/French (with Nick Spooner who’s now with L.A.-based Beef Films) before branching out on his own in 2006. He has directed for such clients as Bud Light, Dominoes, Dodge, ESPN, Hyundai, the Pennsylvania Lottery, Subway and vegas.com.
Quartararo cited French’s prowess in comedy and eye for talent as among the factors that drew the company to the director. His comedy chops include following his MTV promo department tenure serving as a writer at Comedy Central for comedians Bill Maher, Dave Atell, Jim Gaffigan and Penn & Teller.
French now joins a Pictures in a Row directorial roster that consists of Lang, Jason House, Misko Iho and Keva Rosenfeld. The company is repped by independents Andrew Halpern on the West Coast and Texas, Tracy Bernard & Associates in the Midwest, and Ann McKallagat in the East.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years.
Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation.
EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.”
Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.”
34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More