Paranoid US has signed director Drew Lightfoot. He was formerly repped stateside by Furlined. Lightfoot’s spot credits include Apple, Sony, Bud Light and Target. His recent endeavors include work on the Kia “Drive Change” campaign. Lightfoot has also gained prominence for his music videos such as Gusters’ “One Man Wrecking Machine”, which was awarded Best Animated Video at MVPA. His video for Constantines was honored with the SXSW Music Video Jury Award and his work for Kate Haynevik’s “Unlike Me” won MVPA’s Best Direction in the Adult Contemporary Genre. Lightfoot is commercially represented in Canada with Soft Citizen. Additionally, he is represented by Revolver Film Company for music videos….Jason Botkin has joined Furlined as an executive producer for commercials. He will also help to spearhead a new music video division at Furlined which will be called FMV. Botkin had previously been exec producer at Streetgang Films, a company he founded in 2003. Streetgang, which is now closed, recently produced MGMT’s “Flash Delium,” a nominee for an MTV Video Music Award, and the acclaimed video for Yeasayer’s “Madder Red,” starring Kristen Bell–both directed by Andreas Nilsson….Synthetic Pictures has hired Simon Barrett as its new L.A.-based executive producer. Barrett comes from Independent Media, where he was head of sales. His advertising career began with the in-house agency/production company at LA Gear, where he worked his way up to manager of advertising, partnering with TBWA/Chiat/Day. He later moved to freelance line producing for noted directors such as Tony Kaye, Jeffery Plansker, Scott Hicks, and Wally Pfister. Barrett joined Independent Media as West Coast rep and was promoted to head of sales. Founded in 2003, Synthetic Pictures has offices in Hollywood, Austin and New York City, and its directorial roster includes company founder Justin Corsbie, along with directors/cameramen Lionel Coleman and Richard Kooris, directors Scott Rice, Lance Larson and Benoit Gabriel, and visual effects division SP/FX…
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 and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, 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