Gobsmack!, the Bangalore and L.A.-based content studio founded by director Shyam Madiraju
Gobsmack!, the Bangalore and L.A.-based content studio founded by director Shyam Madiraju, will be handling representation in India for Anonymous Content. The agreement, which includes most of the Anonymous roster of filmmakers, is the first representation deal for Anonymous outside of the U.S. or U.K. Among the Anonymous directors whom Gobsmack! will rep in India are Andrew Douglas, Malcolm Venville, Mark Romanek, David Kellogg, Brett Morgen, PES, David Fincher and Guy Ritchie. “It's become a global marketplace for production as well as for creativity. Our partnering with Gobsmack! in India is an effort for us to widen our pool of sources of great work for our filmmakers and offering them as many options as possible. If you look at India, it's a culture with a tremendous film background and a literacy of production. They have sophisticated audiences and great crews. And their economy is the economy of the 21st century. For us, this move makes a lot of sense.” Madiraju is well-positioned to introduce the talents of Anonymous Content to the Indian ad agency marketplace. As a director working in the US, he was repped by Anonymous for three years. A former creative director at such shops as TBWAChiatDay, Ogilvy & Mather and The Martin Agency, Madiraju took his agency acumen and successfully transitioned to directing in 2006 with a series of spots for the L.A. Film Festival. Madiraju then went on to direct a series of highly acclaimed virals for the Ritz-Carlton Hotel that were produced by Anonymous. He left Anonymous in 2009 to found Gobsmack! in India and the U.S….DP Shane Hurlbut, who is repped by Innovative Artists, has wrapped the feature project Blackbird with director Stefan Ruzowitzky and starring Olivia Wilde and Eric Bana….
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More