Director Joshua Neale has joined Smuggler for worldwide representation. Smuggler marks his first stateside production house roost. Neale had been handled in the U.K. by Independent in London.
Neale directed his first broadcast documentary in 2006 wiht the chilling The Boy Who Killed His Best Friend for the BBC Four series My Crazy Life. He followed that with his musical documentary Karaoke Soul in ’07, which mixed intimate observational documentary with musical performances from the central characters. The Guardian commented, “Neale has come up with a genre all of his own–a docu-music video,” and the film resulted in the director being nominated for the ’07 BAFTA Breakthrough Award.
Neale stepped into the advertising arena in ’08 with a documentary launching the Jazz for Honda via Wieden+Kennedy, London. Next came the Nokia 97 Portraits Series featuring individuals from around the world who use technology in interesting ways. These portraits showcased Neale’s talent for capturing a diverse range of characters and his commend of authentic documentary as an approach to branded content.
Among Neale’s recent credits are two :30s for Lurpak’s “Joy of Creation” campaign. One of the semi-improvised commercials, “Pie,” led to a BTAA Award earlier this year. Neale also recently wrapped five sets of IDs for Waitrose through MCBD featuring the genuine reactinos of children trying exotic foods for the first time.
Neale is set to soon edit his U.S.-based feature documentary A Sorry Story for BBC Four, and is currently in pre-pro for the Wall’s Projects with Saatchi & Saatchi.
Director Cassandra Brooksbank Joins Monument Content For Spots and Branded Content
Monument Content has signed director Cassandra “Cassie” Brooksbank for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She brings to her directing and storytelling the experience and skills of a writer, conceptual artist, editor and visual effects artist.
Her body of work as a director includes Pepsi’s “Selfie” featuring Lionel Messi amid a flurry of fans, Barclays madcap women’s Soccer League spot where she collaborated closely with the agency to develop the creative, ultimately winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sports Industry Awards, and a grass-roots campaign for Fellow Coffee. The latter just didn’t brew buzz; it helped raise $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Prior to joining Monument Content, Brooksbank had been repped in the U.S. for commercials by production house Hey Wonderful.
On the long-form front, she is repped by CAA for film and television. And on the horizon is her debut feature, My Masterpiece, produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and backed by Amazon.
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