Director Yann Demange, whose work spans commercials, films and TV, has joined RESET for spots and branded content in the U.S. He had formerly been repped in the American ad market by Stink.
Born in Paris and raised in London, Demange began his career filming live concerts and assisting on commercials.
Demange’s first feature was the critically acclaimed ’71, starring Jack O’Connell as a British soldier accidentally abandoned by his unit during the height of The Troubles in Belfast, Ireland. The feature was nominated for two BAFTA awards and nine BIFA awards including Best British Independent Film.
Demange has a wide variety of television work including the comedy drama Man in a Box, the acerbic satirical zombie drama Dead Set, and the crime dramas Criminal Justice and Top Boy. Written by Ronan Bennett for Channel 4. Top Boy is set in Hackney, London, and looks beyond the headlines about youth crime and delves into the personal stories of those involved. The series was nominated for Best Director and Best Drama Serial BAFTAs and won Best Drama Serial at the Royal Television Society and the 2013 Broadcast awards. Drake and Netflix have taken an interest in the show and are producing a third season going into production in 2018.
Demange received the International New Talent Prize at the German Cinema Awards for Peace, was celebrated with BAFTA’s “Brits to Watch” honor, and won Best Director at the 2014 BIFA Awards.
His latest project is the film White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bel Powley and Bruce Dern; the feature will be released later this year.
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