SHOOT’s ninth annual New Directors Showcase–marked by an evening screening, panel discussion and reception this past Tuesday (5/10) at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theatre in New York–offered a total of 32 helmers from diverse backgrounds. Unlike prior years, though, the field had but one directorial team, the duo of Angela+Ithyle from Workhorse Media; the balance consists entirely of solo directors.
Prominent in the mix are ad agency creatives who have acted on their directorial aspirations, including:
• Masashi Kawamura who is a creative director at Wieden+Kennedy, New York, while being repped for special projects by Stink, London. He earned inclusion in large part on the basis of his interactive music video, “Mirror,” for the Japanese band Sour.
• Peter Rabôt, a veteran creative director who showcases his directorial chops in a TV campaign for New York-Presbyterian Hospital, including an emotionally moving spot titled “Heather.” Rabôt directed via Lost Highway Films, N.Y., and conceived of the campaign via the agency that bears his name, Munn Rabôt, N.Y.
• Alex Grossman’s agency creative background includes copywriting at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, and Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners, Sausalito, Calif., before then embarking on a directorial career. He continues to keep his hand in the agency arena, maintaining boutique shop Men On The Street. His agency endeavors over the years have scored on the awards show circuit with Pencils, Gold Lions and Clios. His first foray into directing was on the website Funnyordie.com and he later branched out into helming commercials. Grossman recently joined Station Film where he has already directed the Nissan “Model vs. Model” campaign for TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, which pits a Nissan model, the Juke, against a swimsuit model. In “Acceleration,” for example, viewers get an analytical study of the Juke racing against the swimsuit-clad Amber. Slow-motion shots of Amber sprinting alongside the Juke compact automobile evoke retro-Baywatch entertainment. Ultimately the Juke races past her as she comes to a stop, effectively marketing the car and Nissan’s sponsorship of the Sports Illustrated 2011 swimsuit edition. The Grossman-directed online spot being screened as part of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase will be the Allergy Council’s “Peanuts PSA.”
• Greg Bell who exited the agency he co-founded–Venables, Bell & Partners, San Francisco–to pursue a directing career which got underway successfully last year with his helming a series of five short films for Google’s Nexus Smartphone with the Android operating system, and another five for Logitech’s Google TV box. Both client-direct jobs are humorous and put Bell on the filmmaking map well before he signed with a production house, which he did several months ago when he decided to join Epoch Films. The Smartphone webisodes in the series called El Vendor garnered Bell a slot in the New Directors Showcase. The series of shorts centers on an executive whose story begins when he gets angry that a candy bar he paid for gets stuck in the office vending machine. The exec tugs a bit too hard on the machine, which topples over and traps him on the floor of the lunch room. Over the ensuing weeks, he continues to do business in that horizontal position thanks to the capabilities of his handy Smartphone. Also enabling him to function in this manner are enough food in the vending machine to sustain him and his agreement not to sue his employer for the workplace mishap.
• Sammy Albis, a former agency creative, who is now a director at Magnet Filmworks, Coral Gables, Fla. Albis started out as a copywriter at Y&R Colombia and then served stateside as a creative director, his roosts including DDB Miami. Albis’ directing mettle is reflected in the Labels Are For Jars’ PSA “Guy,” which will be screened for Showcase attendees.
• Tynesha Williams who too was an agency creative before moving into the directorial ranks. She was selected for the Showcase on the strength of the Doritos’ spot “Housesitting.” Williams is not currently affiliated with a production house..
Spec fare Williams is among several unaffiliated directors in the 2011 Showcase. Among the others are several with spec commercials such as Matt Fackrell (Pampers’ “Freaked Out), Christopher Fata (Apartments.com’s “Novelty Cups”), Laurent Soriano (Perrier’s “Bonjour”), and Igor Martinovic (adidas’ “Dream”). Martinovic is well known as a DP, having shot the James Marsh-directed, Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire.
Also in the unaffiliated batch of promising directorial newcomers are Elizabeth Orne, a recent NYU film school grad, who caught SHOOT judges’ attention with her short film Crazy Glue; and Kirsten Tan who is currently enrolled in NYU’s Grad Film Program. Tan’s spec cinema ad, IFC’s “Play Your Part,” is being screened as part of the SHOOT New Directors Showcase.
On the flip side in sharp contrast to newcomers fresh from and still in film school is Adrien Brody who won a Best Actor Academy Award for his memorable performance in The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.
Brody is represented as a director by production house Supply & Demand for commercials and branded content. He secured New Directors Showcase inclusion on the basis of his Chrysler spot “Arrive In Style.”
Balance of talent Rounding out the 2011 SHOOT New Directors Showcase are:
• Otto Arsenault of ONE at Optimus, Chicago and Santa Monica, for “MultiTEXT,” alternative media content for Project Yellow Light and The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va.
• Daniel Bird of Savage, Prague and New York, for Greenpeace’s online spot “Facebook Unfriend Coal.”
• Jeff Chan of Frank Content, Toronto, for Cannes WaterAid’s “White Collar Water Crisis.”
• Omri Cohen of Green Dot Films, Santa Monica, for Nike’s “Cricket.”
• Rik Cordero of Robot Films, Santa Monica, for Nike’s short film The World Is Watching.
• Poppy de Villeneuve of bicoastal/international Partizan for the short Love Is Like Life But Longer.
• Jeannette Godoy of Superlounge, Santa Monica, for the Bridgestone spec spot “A Boy and His Tire.”
• Gustav Johansson of Camp David Film, Stockholm, for EF International Language Center’s online spot “Live The Language–Paris.”
• Ronnie Koff of Imaginary Forces, Hollywood, for Tropicana Pure Premium’s “Flipbook.”
• Ruben Latre of Kipany Pictures, N.Y., for the National Museum of Hip-Hop online spot “The Conductor.”
• Andrew Laurich of ContagiousLA for Buycostume.com’s “Head.”
• Jacob Lincoln of Greenpoint Pictures, Brooklyn, N.Y., for “No Distractions,” an online spot for Mountain Dew Code Red.
• Arev Manoukian of Spy Films, Toronto, for ADCC’s cinema ad “Love and Hate.”
• Tyler Manson of ACNE, Santa Monica/Stockholm, for the Converse online spot “Olivia Bee.”
• Hayley Morris of Curious Pictures, New York, for the Ad Council short titled Health.
• Doug Walker of Mirror Films, Los Angeles, for the documentary RHAG.
• And Mario Zozin of bicoastal/international The Sweet Shop for the short Emil Orange.
Expanded agenda For the second straight year, the New Directors Showcase evening event was expanded to include daytime proceedings, a Directors/Producers Forum, also on May 10 at the DGA Theatre in NYC (see separate story in this e.dition, with more detailed coverage slated to appear in the June 17 print issue and concurrent e.dition).
The two complementary SHOOT events were part of The One Club’s Creative Week, NYC, celebrating creativity in varied forms throughout N.Y.
Gold sponsors of the SHOOT events were: the DGA, Deluxe, harvest and ONE at Optimus. Silver sponsors are Kodak, Company 3 and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz. Bronze sponsor is production house Argyle Brothers.
For a full rundown of directorial talent in the 2011 SHOOT New Directors Showcase, see the separate story in this e.dition featuring mini-profiles and the directors’ responses to select questions. And to view all the work and read more Q&As with the directors, visit http://nds.shootonline.com. (Coverage of the New Directors Showcase panel and other related developments will appear in the June 17 print issue and concurrent e.dition.)
