DIRECTOR/COP BACKS STREET STORIES
Calum deHartog’s not like most commercial directors. He moonlights as a Toronto police officer. Seeing firsthand the ravages of the drugs and violence that run rampant in Toronto’s inner city communities, he became inspired to help inner city youth tell their often harrowing stories through film.
Thus was born The City Life Film Project, initiated last spring in partnership with Toronto-based Temple Street Productions and The Remix Project, a Toronto charity employing arts and culture to engage young people, mostly from priority neighborhoods. The Project partners inner city youth with industry professionals who provide them with the guidance and resources to bring their stories to life. Out of 50 applicants, 10 finalists were chosen and whittled down to three young filmmakers who were given the opportunity to make their films.
The goal, says deHartog, is “to inspire future filmmakers by providing real hands-on experience in bringing their stories to life. It also reinforces my view that arts and culture are an important component of society in creating dialogue and understanding the world we live in.”
To produce the three films, $250,000 was raised. The project, which will continue to run annually, is being promoted through a pro bono campaign developed by Leo Burnett in Toronto. The campaign consists of wildposting of fake movie posters and a fake movie trailer for The Downfall, a film that was never made because the young person who would have made it was killed by stray gunfire. The trailer, produced by Toronto-based Crush, is currently being shown on cinema screens in Toronto. The movie posters point to TheDownFallMovie.com, which also hosts the trailer.
The three films, created by Ana Astaiza, Rich Acheampong and Ayanie Naseem, had an invitation-only Toronto premiere in November. The films are also being submitted to festivals worldwide and are being screened at high schools and community centers throughout Toronto. More info is at http://citylifefilmproject.com
ADC OPTS FOR 16-YEAR VET AS DIRECTOR
The Art Directors Club has officially promoted Olga Grisaitis, a 16-year vet of the organization, to its top position as director. Founded in N.Y. in 1920, the ADC is a self-funded, not-for-profit global membership organization serving as a hub for creative directors, art directors, graphic designers, digital designers, environmental designers, copywriters, illustrators, photographers and others. The club’s mission is to connect creative communications professionals around the globe, and to provoke and elevate world-changing ideas. ADC encourages students and young professionals entering the field. ADC provides a forum for creatives in advertising, design, interactive media and communications to explore the direction of these rapidly converging industries.
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS…
Lindsay Stillman has been promoted to sr. producer at GSD&M Idea City in Austin. She has moved up steadily since first coming aboard in the fall of 2004 as an intern in it A-V studio. During her tenure at GSD&M’s production department, she has produced and edited commercials for such clients as Southwest Airlines, Kohler, and L.L.Bean……Matej Purg has been promoted from head of production to exec producer at Paranoid US. He has overseen recent work for Paranoid US such as Nike’s “Mercurial” and Coke’s “Quest” directed by Edouard Salier, and Optus’ “Secret Training Camp” and Accenture’s “Surfing Elephant” directed by Thierry Poiraud…
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More