Though SHOOT has been identifying, new, up-and-coming directorial talent for many years–on a weekly basis in terms of our news coverage, in the context of our Directors Series/Special Reports which regularly contain a feature on new helmers, and in the scope of our weekly “The Best Work You May Never See” gallery–this is just the fourth year that SHOOT has held a formal event, its annual New Directors Showcase, to put the spotlight on deserving, emerging directors.
And strange as it sounds, there’s a sense of mini-tradition that’s developed over that relatively short span. I remember in year two we had Nelson Cabrera as a Showcase director. That was just a year after Cabrera, a veteran first a.d. on commercials, was in the audience, starting to do spec work which was just on the cusp of garnering recognition in industry circles–with the possibility that one of the ads was going to gain airtime. It did–and a year later he was in our New Directors Showcase. He’s now with HKM.
We’ve seen a fair percentage of directors in these four years go on to great success, including director Michael Downing of harvest having his Budweiser “Skydiver” spot appear on the Super Bowl last year and finish first in the USA Today poll.
And the career progression that has taken hold is evident in this year’s crop. A number of the directors chosen for this year couldn’t be with us at the New Directors Showcase event at the DGA Theater in New York last month because, happily, they had gotten spot assignments. An example being Shyam Madiraju of V3 at Anonymous Content who was working on a Fox Soccer Channel job.
Plus there have also been signings. On the strength of his spec work at Group101Spots, Brent Jones, who came to the SHOOT event, recently signed with Aero Film, Santa Monica. The team of Zack & J.C. was also on hand at the DGA Theater and I had the pleasure of announcing that they had just agreed to join @radical.media.
Furthermore, just a couple of weeks after our New Directors Showcase screening, panel discussion and reception, work directed by two of the Showcase helmers garnered three honors at the prestigious AICP Show.
Earning distinction in two AICP competition categories was the work of New Directors Showcase helmer Adam Goldstein of bicoastal/international RSA. The Goldstein-directed Freelance Union’s “Hospital” was honored in the spec spot category. Goldstein, who recently moved over from his creative director’s post at BBDO New York to pursue a full-time directorial career via RSA, also served as creative director on “Hospital.”
Additionally, Goldstein scored in the copywriting category for the New York Homeless Coalition’s “Scaffold” from BBDO New York. Goldstein directed and teamed with Lauren Cohen to write the commercial, which was screened as part of SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase reel.
Meanwhile honored in the AICP Show’s student commercial category was Mountain Dew’s “Foley” directed by the duo of Zack & J.C. (a.k.a. Zack Resnicoff and J.C. Khoury). “Foley” also was screened for the DGA Theater audience during the SHOOT proceedings.
For the SHOOT staff, the bottom line is simple. Indeed the most gratifying part of the Showcase for us is seeing careers born and then progress.
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More