Though they will have to wait ’til June to be formally honored at the Art Directors Club (ADC) Awards ceremony in New York City, the winners of the 85th annual competition have been announced. Gold Cubes in Advertising were awarded to two commercials: adidas’ “Hello Tomorrow” directed by Spike Jonze of bicoastal/international MJZ for TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco; and Sony Bravia LCD TVs’ “Balls” helmed by MJZ’s Nicolai Fuglsig for Fallon, London. “Balls” took not only a Gold in the TV, over 30 seconds, category, but also two Silvers–one for cinematography (DP Joaquin Baca Asay), the other for cinema, over 30 seconds. “Hello Tomorrow” garnered Gold in the TV, over 30 seconds category. Scoring Silver were Guinness’ “noitulovE” directed by Daniel Kleinman of Kleinman Productions, London, for AMV BBDO, London; and Foster’s Carlton Draught’s “Big Ad” directed by Paul Middleditch of Plaza Films, Sydney, for George Patterson Y&R, Melbourne. The latter’s Silver was in the TV, over :30 category, while the “noitulovE” Silver came for visual effects, which were done by Framestore-CFC, London and New York. Topping the ADC Hybrid competition with the lone Gold was NTT-Resonant, Inc, and the Japanese search engine goo.com with a campaign from Ground, a division of Dentsu, Tokyo…..Bicoastal commercial production house Pony Show has signed director Didier Poiraud, formerly of the Poiraud Brothers…..Director Dennis Dugan, whose feature credits include Happy Gilmore, Big Daddy, and the recently released Benchwarmers, is now available for commercials through Original Film, Los Angeles…..Director Laszlo Kadar has joined Nola Pictures, New York….
“Atropia” and “Twinless” Win Marquee Prizes At Sundance Film Festival
The war satire “Atropia,” about actors in a military role-playing facility, won the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, while the Dylan O’Brien movie “Twinless” got the coveted audience award.
Juries and programmers for the 41st edition of the independent film festival announced the major prizewinners Friday in Park City, Utah.
Other grand jury winners included the documentaries “Seeds,” about farmers in rural Georgia and “Cutting Through the Rocks,” about the first elected councilwoman in an Iranian village. The Indian drama “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears),” about a city dweller mourning his father in the western Indian countryside, won the top prize in the world cinema competition.
“It’s for my dad,” said writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade. His late father, he said, was the one who encouraged him to pursue filmmaking.
Audiences also get to vote on their own awards, where James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” about the bromance between two men who meet in a twin bereavement support group, triumphed in the U.S. dramatic category. O’Brien also won a special jury award for his acting.
The U.S. documentary audience award went to “André is an Idiot,” a life-affirming film about dying of colon cancer. Other audience picks were “Prime Minister,” about former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and “DJ Ahmet,” a coming-of-age film about a 15-year-old boy in North Macedonia.
Mstyslav Chernov, the Oscar-winning Associated Press journalist, won the world cinema documentary directing award for his latest dispatch from Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS Frontline.
“Here’s to all... Read More