Bicoastal/ international Satellite Films has fortified its roster with the signing of directors Christophe Navarre and Pascual Sisto; additionally, the company has formalized its relationship with stop-motion animator/director Mark Osborne.
Paris-based Navarre has been directing for about a year and a half. His credits include European spots for Cable TV Channel Festival and La Redoute.
Before officially signing with Satellite, Navarre had helmed a three-spot Lexus package through the production house. Those ads, touting pre-owned Lexus vehicles, were created by Team One Advertising, El Segundo, Calif.
According to Satellite VP/ executive producer Charles Wolford, Navarre had previously worked as a first AD to late Satellite director Jhoan Camitz, among others. Wolford recalled it was with Camitz that he first met Navarre last year at Cannes. Subsequently, Satellite pitched Navarre on the aforementioned Lexus job several months ago, ultimately deciding to forge a relationship with the director.
"He’s worked with amazing talents," reported Wolford. "He’s had an opportunity to see some of the best directors work. There’s definitely a French aesthetic in his work: He does visually driven comedy. He has a strong artistic aesthetic and he really appreciates the art direction of commercials."
Navarre broke into the business in France in 1986, as a PA, then worked his way up the production ranks, attaining positions as production coordinator, location manager and production manager. Having become an AD, he worked on spots for clients including Yves Saint Laurent, Jean-Paul Gauthier, Christian Dior, Coke, Nike, Levi’s, Volkswagen, Renault, Peugeot, Citroen and Air France. In addition to Camitz, Navarre worked with such directors as Jean-Baptiste Mondino, Stephane Sednaoui, Philippe Pollet-Villard and Erick Ifergan.
Pascual Sisto studied art and film in his native Barcelona before moving to Los Angeles in 1995. After earning a BFA in film from Pasadena-based Art Center College of Design in December 1999, he began working as a freelance visual effects artist and motion graphics animator; his clients included Toyota, Nissan, Lincoln and Mercury. He then went on to art-direct numerous spec spots before shifting to directing.
Thus far, Sisto has directed two spec spots, for Swatch and Sony Mini Disc, that combined live action and effects. Wolford recounted that soon after joining Satellite last fall (SHOOT, 9/15/00, p. 1), he viewed the reel that Sisto had sent to the company. "I was really impressed with the sophistication level of someone who had just come out of art school; it’s beautiful film," continued Wolford, who expects that Sisto will primarily be directing highly visual projects and music videos.
Mark Osborne’s most celebrated project is a six-minute short called More, which was the first fully animated stop-motion piece to be filmed in the IMAX format. Nominated for a 1998 Academy Award, More won a number of honors, including the Jury Prize for best short at Sundance Film Festival in ’99, and best animated short at the SXSW Film Festival. Other of his accolades include a ’95 Grammy nomination for best music video for co-directing Weird Al Yankovic’s animated spoof "Jurassic Park." He made his feature film live-action directing debut with Dropping Out, which starred John Stamos, Adam Arkin and Katey Sagal; it debuted at Sundance last year.
At Satellite, Osborne recently directed his first commercial for the Cartoon Network. "He’s one of those people who likes to do all sorts of things," observed Wolford, adding that Satellite is currently working with the director on developing two short films. "I’m sure he’ll do a lot of commercials. He’s getting really good response to his work from the U.K. and Europe, so I suspect he’ll do a lot of work there, as well."
Brian Carmody serves as Satellite’s head of sales and West Coast rep; Chicago-based Dawn Rao handles the Midwest, and New York-based Philip Fox-Mills covers the East Coast. Satellite is repped in the U.K. by London-based Jani Guest.
