Director Damien Drake has joined creative digital studio Click 3X. The director, cinematographer and producer has traveled the world shooting documentaries, commercials, TV shows, music videos and branded content. In 2012 and into 2013, Drake directed more than 30 videos in over half a dozen countries for Procter & Gamble’s “Everyday Effect” campaign, which included what became high-profile commercials featuring elderly couple Morty and Lee Kaufman. Drake began his career as a producer at VH1 Classic, where he conducted hundreds of interviews with legends such as Elton John, REM and The Clash. In 2004, he founded East Pleasant Pictures and produced entertainment content for Sprint’s new digital account with music superstars Akon, Rihanna and Amy Winehouse. In 2009, producer Fisher Stevens recruited Drake to shoot over 100 days in Africa for a project documenting Dr Amy Lehman and the Lake Tanganyika Floating Health Clinic. Drake went on to shoot Stevens’ subsequent docs, Mission Blue and My Decisions….Venice, Calif.-based Slim Pictures has signed the directing team of Peter Goeltenboth & Florian Giefer, a.k.a. Pet & Flo. Known for its blend of unique in-camera effects and stop motion visuals, the Berlin-based duo handles all directorial duties equally, from the casting to art direction to operating the stop motion rigs. Beyond stop motion, Pet & Flo’s expertise includes working with front-screen projections, miniature puppets, hand-cut animations, time-lapse techniques, Rube Goldberg machines, and so on. Their credits include such brands as Olympus, BMW, and Coca Cola…. Still photographer/director Anthony Dias has signed with Square Planet Media for both commercial and digital advertising assignments. It marks the first time that Dias has been represented as a director in addition to his work as a still photographer. He joins directors Toshi Oku, Francis Dreis, John M and Chris Weinstein at Square Planet…
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