BENT ON RECYCLING
To a catchy jingle (see this week’s Top 10 Spot Tracks Chart), plastic grocery bags serenade their way out of dark cupboards to see the light of day. Our protagonist bag, a plastic pied piper of sorts, croons for that one bright day when “some human would figure out that serving you once and stepping aside isn’t all we bags are about.” Propelled by stop motion animation from Bent Image Labs, Portland, Ore., the bags move out of their hidden drawers and shelves to the outside world, making their way to the local store to attain the “higher purpose” of being recycled. Rob Shaw and Randall Wakerlin of Bent directed this :30 spot, titled “Ballad of the Bag,” for the Rhode Island Resource Recovery Corp. and agency RDW Group, Providence, R.I. The RDW creative team consisted of Executive Creative Director Jeff Patch, Creative Director/Copywriter/Art Director Wendy Jivoin and Producer Ann-Marie Raymond.
Ray Di Carlo executive produced for Bent, with Mark Axton serving as producer. Bent’s Jon Weigand was offline/online editor.
KEEP THE FAITHVeteran Exec Producers Jeff Armstrong and Ben Dossett have launched Holmes Defender of the Faith, a Malibu-headquartered production house. Armstrong is best known for his tenures at the helm of now defunct Satellite Films and A Band Apart. Dossett was a partner in Southern California shops Windmill Lane and Miss Jones. He briefly came aboard A Band Apart and worked with Armstrong. Holmes Defender of the Faith opens with roster that includes spot directors Marcel Langenegger, Brendan Donovan and Jennifer Little. The house also handles filmmakers Andy Dick, Tim Burton, David Goyer, Keenen Wayans, Forest Whitaker, Spike Lee and Robert Luketic for commercials. Additionally the new venture has an alliance with 8 Commercials in Australia and represents directors Brendan Williams, Josh Frizzell and Paul Goldman in the United States and Canada. The domestic sales force consists of independent reps Richard Fink and Robin Fried of R2, New York, handling the East Coast, Mary Ida Bonadio in the Midwest and Connie Mellors and Ellen Dempsey covering the West Coast.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWSDirector Ramaa Mosley has joined Trio Films, the Los Angeles shop headed by founders/executive producers Erin Tauscher and Taylor Ferguson. Mosley comes over from Uber Content, Los Angeles, where she helmed spots for ESPN and Pfizer, among others. Her career credits also include commercials for adidas, Powerade and Toshiba….Director Noah Marshall has come aboard the U.S. roster of The Sweet Shop, headed by New York-based managing director Steven Shore. Marshall extends his reach stateside from The Sweet Shop footholds in Europe and the Pacific. His credits include Nike’s “Maureen,” which garnered a Bronze Lion at last year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. He joins a U.S. directorial lineup at The Sweet Shop that also features Steve Ayson, Melanie Bridge, Kathi Prosser, Julian Pugsley and Michael Wong….King Cut Editorial, Venice, Calif., has added Editor Megan Bee, formerly of bicoastal Spot Welders, executive producer Hannah Yates and associate producer Ari Braverman. Yates had most recently been freelancing as an editorial and visual effects producer. Braverman comes from a sales background, having worked with Stacey Altman at independent West Coast rep firm Stacey & Co…..
