Bicoastal/international production company Savage has added director Melissa Silverman to its roster for representation in the U.S. and Europe. She was previously with Slim Pictures.
Her clients include Starz/DirecTv, McDonald’s, Tuborg Beer and Revlon while awards from D&AD, PromaxBDA and Telly Awards combine with an Emmy nomination for Nickelodeon.
Silverman cut her teeth directing and conceptualizing for On Air Promotions at MTV. She quickly gained recognition for her subtle situational comedy, often writing and directing on high profile campaigns with celebrities including Madonna, Conan O’Brien, Donald Trump and The Foo Fighters. She then branched out, directing spots while still at MTV, helming projects in the U.S. and Europe for clients including Tuborg Beer and technology company Siminn.
“I quickly realized that the look of my work at MTV matched up nicely with branding,” she said of her spot directing endeavors. “With comedy it’s down to subtlety, even in ridiculous scenes. I am drawn to performance and humor that is not necessarily bold, but humor that aptly underlines the moment.”
Queried on changes in advertising since moving on from MTV, Silverman replied that “the expectation is to deliver more in the same amount of time; at MTV we didn’t have the luxury of time and money–but we did have creativity. That taught me to be resourceful and to create quality work under all kinds of situations.”
Silverman is currently in post on work for non-profit organization United Way through McCann, New York. She recently finished new campaigns for Consumer’s Energy through Lowe Campbell Ewald, Detroit, and West Coast Cooler through Brando, Dublin.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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