The Directors Network (TDN), a talent agency for commercial freelance directors, directors of photography, and director/DPs, has signed director/DP Aaron Platt and director/photographer Dean Freeman. Independent Spirit Award nominee Platt (for his cinematography on Wild Tigers I Have Known) has made his mark as a director and cinematographer in commercials, music videos, and films for a plethora of artists and brands including Beyonce, Pepsi, Target, Range Rover, H&M, Bloomingdale’s, Mercedes-Benz, and fashion designers Alexander Wang, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Tory Burch. Platt is an alum of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase, having earned inclusion into its 2009 lineup unveiled at the DGA Theatre in New York. Platt currently moves between Los Angeles, New York City and Seattle. Meanwhile Freeman brings to the TDN roster his expertise in performance-driven filmmaking, and an intimate but energetic style. Freeman’s black-and-white work for Axis Bank with Deepika Padukone and the worldwide campaign for Haagen-Dazs starring Bradley Cooper are both as poetic as they are playful, advancing the celebrity-driven advertising genre. Freeman recently traveled to Cuba to direct an experimental “The Movement for Movement” campaign. In these vibrant shorts, Freeman chronicles Cuban artists and athletes while creating a stirring anthem for action. Freeman splits his time between Barcelona, London, and Los Angeles…..
Design, animation and production studio Laundry has signed independent rep firm Side Hustle for commercial representation on the East Coast. Laundry will work closely with Andrew Michaeloff, partner at Side Hustle, which specializes in marketing and strategy for design-driven studios and niche live-action production offerings. Side Hustle launched in November 2018 as part of the bicoastal Hustle network, founded by Anya Zander and Jake Neske. Launched in 2005 by partners/executive creative directors PJ Richardson and Anthony Liu, Laundry is a Los Angeles- and San Francisco-based design, animation and live-action studio specializing in commercials, film, and digital content. Recent clients include Uber, Honda, AT&T, Facebook, Nike, Airbnb, EA, Instagram, and MTV…..
Production designer Shane Richardson has joined talent agency Innovative Artists for commercial representation. Richardson is a member of the local 800 Union and based in Los Angeles. He has worked with major artists such as Calvin Harris, Sam Smith, and professional athletes including NBA’s Kevin Love and NFL’s Julian Edelman. Richardson has designed cutting edge commercials for brands such as Bose, Samsung, and Adidas….
eTribez, the company behind the cloud-based production management platform called eTribez Production Management, as well as a cloud-based Casting and Audience Engagement solution, has named Laura Grange as its new sales manager for the U.K., France and Italy. Grange will be based in the company’s London office. Working under the guidance of Andrew Jackson, eTribez’ V.P. of Sales for EMEA, Grange will focus her efforts on introducing the benefits of the company’s products to producers and creators of content across the mediums of broadcast, feature film, documentary, streaming, advertising, and promo….
From Restoring To Hopefully Preserving Multi-Camera Categories At The Emmys
When Gary Baum, ASC won his fourth career Emmy Award earlier this month, it was especially gratifying in that the honor came in a category--Outstanding Cinematography for a Multi-Camera Half-Hour Series--that had been restored thanks in part to a grass-roots initiative among cinematographers to drum up entries. Last year the category fell by the wayside when not enough multi-camera entries materialized.
In his acceptance speech, Baum appealed to the Television Academy to keep multi-camera categories alive. He later noted to SHOOT that editors also got their multi-camera recognition back in the Emmy competition this year. Baum hopes that after resurrecting multi-camera categories in 2024, such recognition will be preserved for 2025 and beyond.
A major factor in the decline of multi-camera submissions in 2023 was the move of certain children’s and family programming from the primetime Emmy competition to the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ (NATAS) Emmy ceremony. For DPs this meant that multi-camera programs last year were reduced to vying for just one primetime nomination slot in the more general Outstanding Cinematography for a Series (Half-Hour) category. It turned out that this single slot was filled in ‘23 by a Baum-lensed episode of How I Met Your Father (Hulu).
Fast forward to this year’s competition and Baum won for another installment of How I Met Your Father--”Okay Fine, It’s A Hurricane,” which turned out to be the series finale. Two of Baum’s Emmy wins over the years have been for How I Met Your Father, and there’s a certain symmetry to them. His initial win for How I Met Your Father was for the pilot in 2022. So he won Emmys for the very first and last... Read More