Roman Veiga has joined the directorial roster of Troublemakers for representation in France spanning commercials and branded content. The writer-director likes to mix techniques such as stop-motion, 3D animation, and live action. His style, this crossroads of different visual techniques, is expressed through collaborations with musicians, helping to shape and design their visual identity, or in engaging advertising films. Since his first film, which was selected, and won prizes at a number of major festivals (Clermont Ferrand, Short Shorts Tokyo, Houston Cinema Arts Festival, ASIFA-East Animation Festival, etc.), Veiga has alternated between personal and commissioned work, always with the same ambition of combining visual exploration with unexpected, funny and poetic stories….
National CineMedia (NCM), the cinema advertising platform that is the U.S. representative to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, has unveiled the winners of the 2024 US Young Lions competition. Over 500 teams comprised of young professionals across the advertising, digital, media, creative and PR industries registered for the competition this year, up 20% year over year. The five winning teams, aka TEAM USA, are:
- Digital: Jessica Nugent, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA & Rachel Findlay, TBWA\Chiat\Day LA
- Film: Emma LeMay, Weber Shandwick & John Chavez, Weber Shandwick
- Media: Cara Miller, Initiative & Christian Savino, Initiative
- PR: Morgan Biles, Weber Shandwick & Lena Church, Weber Shandwick
- Print: Chloe Bayhack, FCB New York & Victoria Rocha, FCB New York
The winners will compete in person as TEAM USA in the global Young Lions competition at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity taking place from June 17-21 in Cannes, France….
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More