Search Party Music, firmly ensconced in New York, has added composer Chris Funk to its recently launched Portland, Ore. office. This marks Funk's first-ever commercial music representation. Best known as the multi-instrumentalist in the indie rock band The Decemberists, Funk is also a noted music producer and studio musician. He has lent his musical acumen to such bands as The Shins, Laura Veirs, and Blue Giant. Funk is also a founding member of the acclaimed neo-gothic string band Black Prairie on Sugar Hill Records. The Decemberists' new album, “The King Is Dead,” releases January 18. Search Party's new Portland operation is housed in the legendary music venue La Luna, shuttered in 1999. The venue was a fixture in the grunge era, hosting the likes of Nirvana, The Dandy Warhols, Elliott Smith, Everclear and Sweaty Nipples. The new office is headed up by EP Sara Matarazzo, who relocated to the Northwest from New York, and has hit the ground running with recent work for Target out of Wieden + Kennedy, Portland and an upcoming Super Bowl spot for Budweiser….The Visual Effects Society (VES)–a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to upholding the highest uniform standards and procedures for the visual effects profession–has extended by two years the contract for Eric Roth as its executive director. With the extension, the contract expires in December 2013. Roth has been the exec director since '04 and under his leadership, VES has more than doubled in size from 900 members to over 2,200 members worldwide representing over 20 countries. Roth has worked to create VES Sections in San Francisco, Vancouver, London, and Sydney while also presiding over the VES during a time of tremendous change in the entertainment industry that now relies more than ever on the use of visual effects to make stories come alive….Deutsch New York has hired creative directors Donovan Goodly and John Heath to work on its Microsoft BtoB account. Deutsch won the business in August of last year. Goodly joins Deutsch from BBDO where he was a senior art director. Heath comes over from Euro RSCG where he was an associate creative director working on Heineken, Charles Schwab, and NYSE….
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More