Lively Group, the New York-based creative collective, has hired Rob Morlano as executive director of new business development. He will spearhead Lively Group’s expansion into the long-format content world. Lively Group is a collection of companies that are creative leaders in branding, design, production, visual effects, and editorial. They’ve created and finished content for both emerging and established brands over their 25 years, and include the companies BlueRock, Spontaneous, Decibel, and Scarlett under its umbrella. Morlano spent the past 12 years at Technicolor PostWorks involved in both video and sound postproduction. Morlano has spent the last decade gaining experience across the markets of long-format programming, from unscripted and scripted content, to documentaries, feature films, and OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services….
Dattner Dispoto and Associates has booked DP Giles Nuttgens on the feature film The Wedding Guest….
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More