RSA Films has brought L.A.-based comedy directing duo Peter Martin, aka Peter Livolsi and Martin Dix, aboard its roster for commercials. Peter Martin are behind Little Caesars most recent crowd pleaser, “Lucky Chair” via McKinney, which features NFL superfan Darryl, the 49ers George Kittle and Darryl’s clingy lucky chair. Peter Martin have also brought their sensibility for observational comedy to funny campaigns for Fanta, Ubisoft, FedEx, Cheetos, BBC, Xfinity and many other brands.
“I got my start producing for Peter Martin so linking back up is incredibly meaningful for me,” said Luke Ricci, president, RSA Films US. “Over the years, I’ve watched their reel evolve with a tremendous amount of admiration and respect for their film craft and comedic chops. One of our current objectives at RSA is to build a stronger foothold in the U.S. comedy landscape and Peter Martin is an important part of that effort. I’m absolutely thrilled to be working with Peter Martin and see a fruitful (and fun) future ahead of us.”
“Our history with Luke Ricci is built on trust and friendship,” read a joint statement from Peter Martin. “Luke was a young and hungry producer at AFI who helped us build our spec reel and we gave him his first producing job! His relentless drive and positivity haven’t changed since we first worked together. We’re thrilled to be at RSA and our goal now is to make Ridley Scott laugh at one of our spots.”
Peter Martin bring their award-winning pedigree in entertainment and advertising to their current partnership. Livolsi is a Sundance Lab and AFI alum and director of award-winning shorts such as Duncan Removed and the feature film The House of Tomorrow (Asa Butterfield, Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman) which nabbed honors across the film festival circuit. Dix is an award-winning writer and creative director at agencies including Deutsch and TBWA/Chiat/Day. Livolsi and Dix as Peter Martin are alums of SHOOT’s 2006 New Directors Showcase. Prior to joining RSA, the duo had most recently been with The Corner Shop.
“Whether it’s a Key and Peele sketch, Kristen Wiig and Will Ferrell at an awards show, or a Coen Brothers classic, our favorite comic voices often come in pairs,” said Peter Martin. “Which makes sense to us, because being a team lets us be each other’s audience. We don’t always agree on what’s going to kill, but because we both keep an open mind as we chase a laugh, those debates about gags, shots or casting almost always result in the funniest version of an idea.”
Jules Feiffer, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Cartoonist and Writer, Dies At 95
Jules Feiffer, a Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist and writer whose prolific output ranged from a long-running comic strip to plays, screenplays and children's books, died Friday. He was 95 and, true to his seemingly tireless form, published his last book just four months ago.
Feiffer's wife, writer JZ Holden, said Tuesday that he died of congestive heart failure at their home in Richfield Springs, New York, and was surrounded by friends, the couple's two cats and his recent artwork.
Holden said her husband had been ill for a couple of years, "but he was sharp and strong up until the very end. And funny."
Artistically limber, Feiffer hopscotched among numerous forms of expression, chronicling the curiosity of childhood, urban angst and other societal currents. To each he brought a sharp wit and acute observations of the personal and political relations that defined his readers' lives.
As Feiffer explained to the Chicago Tribune in 2002, his work dealt with "communication and the breakdown thereof, between men and women, parents and children, a government and its citizens, and the individual not dealing so well with authority."
Feiffer won the United States' most prominent awards in journalism and filmmaking, taking home a 1986 Pulitzer Prize for his cartoons and "Munro," an animated short film he wrote, won a 1961 Academy Award. The Library of Congress held a retrospective of his work in 1996.
"My goal is to make people think, to make them feel and, along the way, to make them smile if not laugh," Feiffer told the South Florida Sun Sentinel in 1998. "Humor seems to me one of the best ways of espousing ideas. It gets people to listen with their guard down."
Feiffer was born on Jan. 26, 1929, in the Bronx. From... Read More