With this week’s wrap-up coverage of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase event at the DGA Theatre in New York, appropriately we also have in this issue several notable ad agency artisans chiming in on the importance of uncovering new directorial talent. At the event itself, panelist Peter Nicholson, chief creative officer of Deutsch New York, noted that the industry’s leading creative agencies are always on the lookout for new filmmakers offering fresh and different perspectives.
And in both this week’s Chat Room with Tom Cronin, newly named VP/lead executive producer on Gatorade at Element 79, Chicago, and our Agency Producers Series story, the importance of proactively seeking the right director is emphasized, with a clear affinity for discovering new filmmakers.
In his new role at Element 79, Cronin said one of his prime responsibilities is “to expose all of us, myself included, to people who might be a little more specific to Gatorade, to expand our resources to tap into because scheduling can be so difficult for the right directors.”
Asked what he meant by “more specific,” Cronin said he was referring to directors who have an understanding of the spirit of sports. He stressed that the right lighting and camera angles aren’t enough.
“I think there are a number of European directors we should be looking at–not at the exclusion of American directors who we use primarily–to open up additional options for us,” said Cronin. “–There’s a lesser known group of directors in Europe who are in tune with that [the essence of the athlete] and we need to bring them into the mix for consideration.”
Profiled in our Agency Producers Series, Laurie Malaga, director of production at la comunidad, joined that Miami agency two-and-a-half years ago despite not speaking Spanish and never having worked before in Hispanic advertising. But it was her other experience that made her a proper fit for the creatively progressive la comunidad. She had been executive producer of music videos at the former Propaganda Films for seven years, working with and helping to nurture talent that went on to stardom, such as directors Dante Ariola, Michel Gondry, Stephane Sednaoui and Jonathan Glazer.
“I didn’t know the go-to Hispanic directors when I came here [to la comunidad],” recalled Malaga. “I was a general market person. It came down to us trying to figure out who the best director was for a particular project and in some cases that meant us going outside the traditional community of Hispanic [ad] directors.”
This translated into breakthrough work for then relatively unknown directors like Aaron Ruehl (on Latin teen music network Mundoz and Virgin Mobile) and the Perlorian Brothers (Virgin Mobile).
Similarly Larry Byrne, director of broadcast/production at Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago, noted that it was gratifying to discover director Lars Knorrn for Dove’s Pro-Age campaign.
“We have a crazy bunch of evangelists around here,” said Byrne. “You have to be true to Dove. These real women are exposing themselves physically and emotionally [in this campaign].We respect who they are and finding the right director for that [work] is really important.”
“Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Sonic 3” Rule Box Office For 1st Weekend Of 2025
The Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" claimed the No. 1 spot on the North American box office charts over the first weekend of 2025.
The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel earned $23.8 million in its third weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Paramount's "Sonic the Hedgehog 3," which has dominated the past two weekends, wasn't far behind.
"Sonic 3" stayed close with a 3-day estimate of $21.2 million, bringing its total domestic earnings to $187.5 million and helping the overall franchise cross $1 billion worldwide. "Mufasa's" running total is slightly less, with $169.2 million.
In third place, Focus Features' "Nosferatu" remake defied the fate of so many of its genre predecessors and fell only 39% in its second weekend. Horror films typically fall sharply after the first weekend and anything less than a 50% decline is notable. "Nosferatu," which added 140 screens, claimed $13.2 million in ticket sales, bringing its running total to $69.4 million since its Christmas debut. The film, directed by Robert Eggers, already surpassed its reported production budget of $50 million, though that figure does not account for marketing and promotion expenses).
No new wide releases opened this weekend, leaving the box office top 10 once again to holdovers from previous weeks. Several have been in theaters since Thanksgiving. One of those, "Moana 2," claimed the No. 4 spot for Disney in its sixth weekend in theaters. The animated sequel earned another $12.4 million, bumping its global total to $960.5 million.
The Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," dipped only slightly in its second weekend, bringing in $8.1 million. With $41.7 million total, it's Searchlight's highest grossing film since Disney acquired the company in... Read More