Noted snowboarding and skateboarding filmmaker Rob “Whitey” McConnaughy has signed with Hollywood-headquartered Believe Media for exclusive spot and music video representation in the U.S. and London. Believe also maintains offices in New York and London.
Among McConnaughy’s credits are a series of gritty and authentic skateboarding commercials he conceived, directed and edited for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. He’s also contributed to the MTV series Jackass, and its feature film spin-offs, as a creative consultant and cinematographer.
Originally from Washington, D.C., and now a Portland resident, McConnaughy started filming his skateboarding buddies as he pursued the sport himself, which led him to form his own production company, Kingpin Productions. Under that banner, he has directed assorted snowboard films. Early in his snowboarding career, he became the photo editor of Blunt, a snowboarding magazine owned by Big Brother Skateboarding Magazine. Here he also began shooting skateboarding and various forms of hi-jinx for the Big Brother videos which he collaborated on with Big Brother art director Jeff Tremaine (who is now repped as a spot director by Saville Productions, Beverly Hills; Tremaine recently gained inclusion into SHOOT’s 2006 New Directors Showcase). These videos served as a template of sorts for Jackass.
In addition to the aforementioned Nike package, McConnaughy has directed an EA Games commercial with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Believe partner/executive producer Luke Thornton envisions McConnaughy as being able “to present agency creatives with a distinctly different take on brands and how to articulate them for young audiences.”
Breakout Films and Major Takeaways From This Year’s Sundance Fest
Film wasn't the only thing on people's minds at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( and online ).
The effects of the wildfires in Southern California loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be the second to last Sundance based in Park City. Some films offered an escape from reality; others were a pointed reminder of the domestic and international political landscape, from transgender rights to the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the 41st edition of the festival.
The effects of the Southern California fires were deeply felt
The wildfires were still burning in parts of Los Angeles when Sundance began last week and reminders of its devastation were everywhere, even on screen. Max Walker-Silverman's "Rebuilding," starring Josh O'Connor as a cowboy who loses his ranch in a wildfire and forms a community with fellow survivors in a FEMA camp, hit close to home for many.
Filmmakers Meena Menon and Paul Gleason lost their home in Altadena where they filmed some of their zombie apocalypse movie "Didn't Die." Sundance artist labs head Michelle Satter lost her Palisades home as well. Satter had an audience of Sundance Institute donors in tears early in the festival while accepting an honor at a fundraising gala.
"It's a deeply devastating time for us and so many others, a moment that calls for all of us coming together to support our bigger community," Satter said. "As a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, 'Take a deep breath ... We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.'"
The festival's move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic... Read More