Ludwig + Preston–a directorial team consisting of long-time agency creatives Ross Ludwig and Shawn Preston–has come aboard bicoastal/international RSA Films for representation in the U.S.
Both Ludwig and Preston’s agency creative experience spans U.S. and international shops. The two met in London and began directing together in 2003 while continuing to freelance as agency creatives. They got their feet wet as helmers in the Eastern European market, frequently conceptualizing the work they directed. Shooting in Turkey, Serbia, Poland and other European centers provided an invaluable filmmaking education.
Their directorial assignments evolved and began to attain a higher profile over the years, including such credits as a live-action/visual effects promo shot in Prague for the NBC primetime TV series Medium; a Mountain Dew Amp ad, “Jump Start,” for BBDO New York, which went on debut during the 2008 Super Bowl telecast, earning “Top 10” distinction in that year’s Big Game rankings of commercials in Time Magazine and USA Today; and a recent spot, “Skinned,” for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in which a skinned alligator takes a woman to task for her alligator handbag, while a rabbit does the same to a guy wearing a rabbit fur jacket. (Visual effects/post on the PETA job was done at Riot/Method, Santa Monica.)
All three spots–for PETA, Amp and Medium–were not only directed and conceptualized by Ludwig and Preston but also share the bond of inventive, visually driven humor. “Though we love comedy, as directors we’re more visual storytellers than gag recorders,” said Ludwig. “That’s different from the kind of work that you see done typically by agency creatives who become directors.”
Both the PETA ad–which premiered in Paris during Fashion week, and features the voices of singer Pink as the alligator and comedian/performer Ricky Gervais as the bunny–and Amp’s “Jump Start” were produced via Food Chain Films, Portland, Ore., which was Ludwig and Preston’s domestic roost prior to RSA. Ludwig and Preston, who moved back to the U.S. in ’05, were initially working as a directorial duo known as Papa & Daddy. (Papa & Daddy were the directors of record on the Amp Super Bowl commercial.) But they recently changed that moniker to Ludwig + Preston because a Google search of Papa & Daddy would never lead to them but rather to a same sex parenting website and related topics. “We’re all for same sex parenting,” quipped Preston, but clearly as a career move a change in directorial branding was in order.
Ludwig’s agency writer/art director pedigree includes creative staff positions at The Ad Store, New York, followed by Saatchi & Saatchi in Singapore and then London. He went on to freelance for London shops Mother and Fallon, Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Ore., New York and London, 180 in Amsterdam, TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, BBDO New York, Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York, 72andSunny, El Segundo, Calif., and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Preston’s background spans hybrid art director/writer staff roles at The Integer Group, Denver, followed by Wieden+Kennedy, Portland and Amsterdam, and BBH London. His subsequent freelance gigs span many of the same shops where Ludwig freelanced.
Among the duo’s other directorial credits are work for MTV Asia, MTV U.K. and Sony Ericsson. Both of the MTV campaigns were included in the British D&AD Annual. Ludwig and Preston’s directing endeavors have also gained recognition at such competitions as the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival and The One Show.
Fully focused on their directing careers now that they’re at RSA, Messrs. Ludwig and Preston hope to garner spot assignments as well as the opportunity to helm other varied forms of branded content ranging from web films to longer form fare. When needed, they would like to contribute creatively and conceptually to projects they direct. “Having been on the agency side, we know about selling good ideas to clients, about making scripts better, about the need for directors to view and to work with the agency and client as collaborative partners,” said Preston. “We want to contribute in positive ways to those collaborations.”
In addition to its new relationship with RSA, the team of Ludwig + Preston continues to maintain several international production house ties, including with Irene in Paris and Trigger Happy in Berlin.
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More