Republic, a production, editorial, and design collective headquartered in Uptown Dallas, has signed director Andrew Ryan Shepherd to its Republic Productions roster and will represent him in the U.S. for commercial and branded content motion work.
Shepherd has cultivated strong bonds with clients and agencies, working with both actors and non-actors to offer unfiltered glimpses into personal stories. His body of work features engaging campaigns for brands such as Lexus, Intel, Google, Mastercard, HP, Target, and Chase, and includes work with agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, BBDO, R/GA, The Martin Agency, Draft FCB, and VML. He most recently collaborated with Republic on a large launch campaign for airline industry disrupter JSX with Fort Worth based agency PMG.
Shepherd joins Republic Productions from the freelance ranks. He earlier was repped by production company Lucky 21.
“We’ve had our eyes on Andrew for several years,” said Brian Hwang, owner and executive producer of Republic Productions. “All of his work, whether it’s doc with real people or scripted with paid talent, has an honest sense of humanity to it. Having the opportunity to team up with him for director calls and treatments, I see where all that comes from. Andrew really puts a lot of work into prep and clearly develops a strong plan that the agency can trust, making all the conversations in video village easier and taking the pressure off the agency on shoot day.”
Shepherd said, “Everything about Republic, from their reels to their reputation to their branding, has always felt really buttoned up and polished to me. Brian’s agency producer background, the fact that he’s been on the post side and is always thinking about the big picture all the way down to the deliverables, made it easy for us to get aligned on both the creative and business end. Working with his team–their vibe, their flow, their capabilities–makes it so simple to deliver high caliber work.”
Shepherd, whose first love was music, entered the industry as a still photographer in 2006, capturing album artwork for bands in New York City. This led to shooting live music and music videos, more work as a DP, and a much deeper appreciation of the seamless integration of visuals, music and sound. He grew into the directorial chair and amassed a reel which was included in a new director’s showcase at Dallas based agency TRG. That screening landed him a 30-day road shoot for the agency’s client Sub Zero, and ultimately launched his career as a commercial director.
In 2017, he joined Lucky 21’s roster where he bolstered his reel and advertising client base while also steadily shooting music videos through his relationships in New York City and venturing deeper into documentary shorts and narrative films. Now with several short films under his belt, he recently wrapped postproduction on his second season of a historical episodic shot overseas. He currently lives in Austin with his wife and golden retriever, George.
Shepherd joins Republic’s curated roster of directors that includes Josh Blaylock, TG Herrington, April Kirby, David McKay, Chad Ostrom and Ben Tedesco.
