Geico’s cavemen are hitting primetime as ABC has picked up for its fall schedule a sitcom based on the characters in the long-running commercial campaign directed by the team of Speck/Gordon of Santa Monica-based Furlined for The Martin Agency, Richmond, Va. Titled Cavemen, the series will center on modern-day cavemen as they adapt to contemporary society in Atlanta. The Martin Agency’s Joe Lawson, on sabbatical from the agency, will serve as writer/co-executive producer of the show. Directors Will Speck and Josh Gordon are also among the exec producers of the Touchstone Television series….Australian director Jon Gwyther, repped by Film Graphics in Sydney, has signed with Fools and Horses, Los Angeles, for U.S. representation. He has directed spots for international clients such as Ford, Nissan and Toyota….Gordon Robertson has joined MARC USA as senior VP/Group Creative Director for the flagship Pittsburgh office. He reports to Bryan Hadlock, agency-wide chief creative officer. Robertson and senior VP/group creative director Ron Sullivan will lead work for all of the Pittsburgh shop’s clients. Robertson most recently was executive creative director of Chicago boutique SWAY Creative Group where he led work for PepsiAmericas, Macy’s and Comcast SportsNet. His experience includes group creative director at both BBDO in Chicago and DMB&B in St. Louis….Copywriters Julia Regan and Ryan Scott have joined WongDoody, Los Angeles. The latter was last at DDB LA. Regan was at Publicis USA….Meanwhile exiting WongDoody, Seattle, is Noah Will who joins Olson, Minneapolis, as a copywriter…..
“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