The Mill has added Kennedy Davey to its production team. She joins as a sr. producer for Mill+, The Mill’s content creation arm that focuses on concept-to-delivery creative partnerships.
With an extensive background in both live action and on the agency side, Davey will use her understanding of clients to help address industry challenges and partner with agencies, production companies and brands to produce the best creative outcome. She will also be focusing her efforts on new areas and applications of emerging technology.
Previously a producer at Anomaly, Davey joins The Mill with a wealth of experience working with brands such as Converse, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Budweiser, Kohl’s and Panera Bread.
Prior to Anomaly, Davey held roles in production with Twentieth Century Fox, Chris Columbus, and Red Hour Films with Ben Stiller, in addition to producing for NBC during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Davey said, “As the industry continues to evolve and the landscape becomes more and more ripe with emerging tech, I’m incredibly excited to be joining a team that is a pioneering force in storytelling. The Mill is renowned and respected for creating high-quality visuals and, as a fan of the company’s previous work, I’m especially enthusiastic about being part of future projects. There’s no better place to leap into the world of high end VFX, direction and immersive content creation.”
Zu Al Kadiri, Mill+ executive producer, added, “Kennedy is an incredibly strong addition to our team, and her extensive industry knowledge garnered through working both the production and agency side equips her perfectly to help develop our Mill+ offering and collaborate with clients here in New York.”
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More