By Robert Goldrich
SANTA MONICA --After a trial run encompassing several projects at Plum Productions, director Gavin Bowden has formally come aboard the Santa Monica-based company. At press time, he was in pre-pro on a Wal-Mart job, a follow-up to the “Smile More” spot which aired heavily during the Winter Olympics telecast on NBC.
That initial Wal-Mart ad as well as two Toyota packages and a CBS assignment were all helmed by Bowden via Plum. The content for CBS was a seven-segment “miniseries” of interstitial commercials sponsored by Pontiac. Titled “The Courier,” the pieces aired on CBS, on the Web, and on cell phones via Verizon Wireless’ V Cast service.
Bowden’s past production house affiliations included BlueYed Pictures, which has offices in London, Tokyo and London, as well as Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart and prior to that Original Film. The director has been active in multiple disciplines, spanning spots (Nike, GMC, Ford, Fanta, VH-1), music videos (Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Folds, Match Box 20, Eve 6), and documentaries for a number of music performers. One such documentary was Funky Monks featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Made in 1991, the hour-long Funky Monks led to Bowden getting the chance to direct music clips and he then later diversified into commercials.
Bowden joins a Plum directorial roster that includes Eric Saarinen, Jan De Bont, Dana Christaansen, Bob Rice and Jake Schreier.
PEARSON In addition to Bowden, Plum–which is under the aegis of president Chuck Sloan–has brought executive producer Beth Pearson on board. She will work in tandem with exec producer Shelby Sexton in overseeing production, bidding, working with clients, helping in the development of directors’ careers, and participating in strategic planning for Plum.
Pearson comes on staff after freelancing as a line producer. She is no stranger to Plum, having worked regularly with the company over the years.
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