Brian Billow--a former creative director at DDB Chicago where he worked on such accounts as Anheuser-Busch, McDonald's, OfficeMax and Wrigley's--has come aboard the directorial roster of bicoastal/international Hungry Man.
Brian Billow–a former creative director at DDB Chicago where he worked on such accounts as Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s, OfficeMax and Wrigley’s–has come aboard the directorial roster of bicoastal/international Hungry Man. Prior to DDB, he was a creative at McCann Erickson, New York, contributing to spots for the MasterCard “Priceless” campaign, Budget Rental Cars, the Partnership for a Drug-Free America, Rolling Rock and Xbox. Among Billow’s directing credits are commercials for McDonald’s, Wrigley’s and Vermont Lottery. His filmography also includes the short titled Bodega, which he both wrote and directed. The short, which has generated considerable buzz on the film festival circuit, tells the story of an extremely creative guy whose vocation is robbing convenience stores….New York-based Sound Lounge Music & Sound Design has hired Marcus Smith as executive producer. He most recently was co-founder and executive producer for New York music house Siblings where he worked on commercials for such clients as JCPenney and Nikon. Smith also produced the original music for this year’s Academy Award-winning and Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award-nominated documentary Taxi to the Dark Side directed by Alex Gibney (who recently entered into a deal for TV commercial representation via Beverly Hills-headquartered Saville Productions)…..New York-based multiplatform production company Transistor Studios has brought Jacob Bondre on board as its lead interactive developer. He has served in senior creative and development capacities at various shops, including Whatever Solutions and Media Inc., Blast Radius, OgilvyOne and Ogilvy Interactive….
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