Director Jonathan Nowak has signed with New York-based production house Argyle Brothers for commercial representation. The director/writer's short film Man & Machine: A Naked Robotic Love Story, is slated to premiere at the 2011 SXSW Festival which gets underway this week. Nowak joins an Argyle directorial roster that includes John Mastromonaco and Hubert Davis….SapientNitro has appointed Stephen Mui as executive creative director of its Shanghai office. He will lead a team of traditional and digital creatives to develop integrated creative strategies for clients such as Mars, Volvo, NBA China, Unilever and Coca-Cola. Mui brings with him 25 years of marketing and advertising experience from Leo Burnett and JWT, as well as a global perspective attained from having worked in China, Hong Kong, and the U.S. Mui began his career as a designer in Hong Kong, and went on to lead the creative division of Leo Burnett Guangzhou. He served most recently as managing partner, executive creative director at Newsun JWT Guanghzou, where he led a team of 60 creative professionals that won numerous awards at the Cannes Lions, Spikes, New York Festival, Effies, London International Awards, and other competitions. Mui recently spent a four-month stint in San Francisco to expand his creative scope to the new media arena, immersing himself in the latest social networking trends….
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