Director connects with Anonymous Content for film & TV literary management
Filmmaker Daniel Askill has joined production company Serial Pictures for North American representation in commercials, branded entertainment, and music videos, and partner company Anonymous Content for film and television literary management.
Askill has helmed advertising campaigns for Audi, Dior, Smirnoff, XBOX and Sony. Prior to Serial, he was handled by RadicalMedia. Askill’s music videos include Sia’s instantly-iconic duo “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier” starring Maddie Ziegler—the latter of which, with just under two billion views, is one of the most-watched YouTube videos of all time. Askill’s work has received numerous nominations and awards including The Grammys, MTV VMAs, Lumiere Awards, Clio, D&AD and Cannes Lions.
“We are thrilled to have Daniel bring his imaginative eye to Serial Pictures,” said the company’s founding partner Violaine Etienne. “And, we’re excited that through our partnership with Anonymous Content, we’ll be able to support and expand Daniel’s vision across all mediums.”
Askill, who was born in Australia, now splits his time between Los Angeles and New York, where the creative collective Collider Studio, which he co-founded, is based. As part of Askill’s signing, Serial Pictures will collaborate with the incubator for upcoming and established talent to craft creative visual experiences outside of the commercial space.
“I’m incredibly excited to be joining Serial Pictures and the extended Anonymous Content family,” says Askill. “I love the combination of a place that feels boutique and curated at heart and has an incredible reach across a broad spectrum of mediums. It is also an exciting opportunity for our collective Collider Studio.”
Before beginning his career in London, where he engaged in visual design work for top creatives including Alexander McQueen, Askill studied visual communication at the University of Technology Sydney, then moved the U.K., where he continued his studies at the Central Saint Martins College of Art. In addition to his background in film and video, Askill also has a background in music composition and performance. He also recorded an album with shakuhachi player Riley Lee when he was 19.
In 2003, Askill wrote and directed the critically acclaimed, surreal short film We Have Decided Not To Die. Exhibited in various international film festivals, the film won prizes at France’s Clermont-Ferrand festival, Melbourne International, Brooklyn International and SXSW. The work is notable for its portrayal of the human body, ritual and use of visceral special effects.
In 2009, Askill collaborated with the Sydney Dance Company in its creative work “We Unfold”. Askill was commissioned to provide video art to screen alongside the work, which was exhibited at the Venice Biennale in 2010. Askill’s most recent, solo exhibitions Modern Worship (2011) and Three Rituals (2011) have been exhibited in Los Angeles and Sydney. The works are described as “a meditation on the notion of ritual and how it can be viewed through the eyes of modern culture.”
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More