As SHOOT’s 8th annual New Directors Showcase approaches, there’s context to be had from and for a first-time SHOOT event that same day (Tuesday, May 11) at the same venue, the DGA Theatre in New York City. The evening New Directors Showcase event has been expanded to include the launch of a daytime event, the SHOOT Directors Symposium. The expansion was in part sparked by past Showcase attendees asking for sessions where agency creatives and production house execs and directors could spend more time together and exchange ideas..
In recent years, the New Directors Showcase has been graced by the presence of director Laura Belsey, who acts as a DGA representative and provides introductory remarks for the Showcase. Belsey is an accomplished filmmaker whose multiple disciplines include commercials, repped by New York-based C-Entertainment. She is also a teacher of the commercial directing class at the Graduate Film School of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Several of our Showcase directors over the years have benefited from her tutelage at NYU.
Also successfully assuming the dual role of notable director and educator is Bob Giraldi of bicoastal Giraldi Media. Giraldi teaches two undergrad classes at the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York–The Project Class, and Evolutionary Dynamics in Advertising.
In the spirit of our Showcase, we have slated for the Directors Symposium a morning session dubbed “The Next Generation: In the Classroom Chair/In The Director’s Chair.”
Giraldi and Belsey will discuss teaching their craft to–and mentoring–students. The two directors/educators will share their insights into being a director today and how they are helping to prepare up-and-coming directors for the real world by teaching as well as creatively nurturing students. Training, mentoring and survival tactics for directing advertising and entertainment content in today’s constantly evolving landscape will be among the topics.
Giraldi teaches classic storytelling in SVA’s The Project Class while going completely contemporary in the Evolutionary Dynamics curriculum, which centers on what he described as “social media, the new media, any media–wherever a brand needs to market itself outside of traditional media. There’s no television, radio, print or outdoor in this class. What’s allowed are new ways of thinking encompassing apps, other mobile content, Twitter, Facebook, both the more and less obvious of emerging outlets.”
Meanwhile, consider the comments of Nat Livingston Johnson, half of the directing duo (with Gregory Mitnick) known as Peking. Johnson and Mitnick were students of Belsey at NYU and have since signed with Station Film. Johnson told SHOOT in fall of 2009 that Belsey served as “an incredible influence and presence in our segue into the industry. She was always available and mentored us, taught us most everything we know about film, and most of her guidance was outside of the classroom. She is a loyal, helpful guide and a close friend. She introduced us to people, prepared us for what to expect in the real world, how to approach meetings with production companies, how to approach conference calls. She has offered us sage advice along the way.”
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Delay TikTok Ban
President-elect Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the potential TikTok ban from going into effect until his administration can pursue a "political resolution" to the issue.
The request came as TikTok and the Biden administration filed opposing briefs to the court, in which the company argued the court should strike down a law that could ban the platform by Jan. 19 while the government emphasized its position that the statute is needed to eliminate a national security risk.
"President Trump takes no position on the underlying merits of this dispute. Instead, he respectfully requests that the Court consider staying the Act's deadline for divestment of January 19, 2025, while it considers the merits of this case," said Trump's amicus brief, which supported neither party in the case and was written by D. John Sauer, Trump's choice for solicitor general.
The argument submitted to the court is the latest example of Trump inserting himself in national issues before he takes office. The Republican president-elect has already begun negotiating with other countries over his plans to impose tariffs, and he intervened earlier this month in a plan to fund the federal government, calling for a bipartisan plan to be rejected and sending Republicans back to the negotiating table.
He has been holding meetings with foreign leaders and business officials at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida while he assembles his administration, including a meeting last week with TikTok CEO Shou Chew.
Trump has reversed his position on the popular app, having tried to ban it during his first term in office over national security concerns. He joined the TikTok during his 2024 presidential campaign and his team used it to connect with younger... Read More