Pulse Films has signed multidisciplinary Paris-based directing duo Julien & Quentin for representation in the U.S. and U.K. spanning commercials and music videos.
Julien & Quentin’s branded work includes such clients as Google, Dior, Puma, Citroen and McDonald’s. Pulse becomes the duo’s first career production company roost for representation in the U.S. and U.K.
Having met in art school and after serving several years as motion graphics designers, friends Julien & Quentin began directing films that melded rich pop culture references with a deep love for cinema. Their unique skill-set canvases a rainbow of creativity from animation, to music production, editing and art direction.
Julien & Quentin’s fresh, multifaceted approach is defined by a distinct rhythm and identity. In a joint statement, the helming duo shared, “We have watched and liked their (Pulse’s) work since our beginnings. We know that it’s the perfect place for us to make amazing and unique work.”
James Sorton, managing of commercials at Pulse, said, “Finding and backing young talent like Julien & Quentin is what motivates us the most at Pulse Films. Julien & Quentin have talent in spades and bring a fresh perspective to creativity.”
Julien & Quentin join Pulse Films following a memorable year for the studio’s commercials and music video divisions. The studio was nominated for 38 awards at last weeks 2020 British Arrows and won 19 including Production Company of the Year and Commercial of the Year (Apple AirPods’ “Bounce” directed by Oscar Hudson for TBWAMedia Arts Lab).
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