Nonfiction Spots, the bicoastal shop specializing in handling documentary filmmakers for commercials, has added three helmers–Rob Devor, Jessica Sanders and Peyton Wilson. Devor’s documentary ZOO generated buzz at Sundance and Cannes this year. Sanders directed After Innocence, a documentary that scored the Special Jury Prize at the ’05 Sundance Festival, and the docu short SING! , which earned an Academy Award nomination. Wilson offers a new wrinkle in that she first established herself in commercials via Food Chain Films, Portland, Ore., and her feature documentary debut, Speed & Angels, is slated for a fall release….Al Kelly has been named executive creative director of Fallon Minneapolis. He will assume the position in August and work closely with recently appointed Minneapolis Creative Director Todd Riddle. Kelly comes over from Strawberryfrog, Amsterdam, where he served as executive creative director for two years….Trollback+Company, a New York-based visual and conceptual creative studio producing motion graphics, design and animation, has launched live-action division Bloke. The new venture features director Joe Wright, creative and partner at the Trollback studio. Bloke plans to add up to three additional directors to its roster to complement Wright….Philip I. Kent, chairman/CEO, Turner Broadcasting System, has been elected chair of The Advertising Council. He succeeds Judy Hu, global executive director, advertising and branding, General Electric Company, and will serve in The Ad Council position for one year.
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More