Giant Artists, a longtime photography and visual talent management shop under the aegis of founder/agency director Jen Jenkins, has launched a live-action division. With offices in Los Angeles and New York and with client and brand collaborations worldwide, the new venture opens with a roster of four creatives: hybrid directors/photographers: Marcus Smith (Nike, featuring Sabrina Ionescu; Dick’s Sporting Goods; New Era) and Jonpaul Douglass (Google Pixel, Chili’s, Psycho Bunny); original content creator and creative director Rudy Willingham (Whole Foods Market, United Airlines, Apple); and original content creator, motion designer, VFX artist, and creative director Peter Quinn (Dollar Shave Club, Snoop Dogg, Meta)…..
Container Love–a Berlin-based creative studio centered on queer and diverse storytelling, working across film, art direction and photography–has joined the roster of directors and creatives at Blink for U.K. representation. Since its incepton 10 years ago, Container Love has cultivated a global network of artists and creative partners. At the forefront of Container Love are director Ben Galster and creative director/photographer Christian Ruess….
Hornet Animation has added L.A.-based director duo Jay and Jin (Jay Asavabenya and Jin Jindawitchu) to its roster, expanding the studio’s presence on the West Coast. Drawing from their extensive architectural expertise and a collaborative journey of nearly 15 years, Jay and Jin’s creative bond dates back to shared roots growing up together in Thailand, helping them weave nostalgia and distant memories into enthralling human-centric stories supported by lush, highly detailed environments. Jay’s innate understanding of CG tools to craft hyperreal environments blends with Jin’s ability to curate immersive installations that artfully engage all of the senses. To create their immersive worlds, the director duo skillfully blends software such as Blender, Unreal Engine, Rhino and TouchDesignER. They are also known for pushing the limits of stylization using new technologies and deftly weaving AI and into their production workflows. Their commitment to cultural-based art direction, weaving hyper-specific aesthetics, and creating shared moments define their artistic philosophy. Jay and Jin have a new film premiering on Nowness that combines innovative live action and motion capture integration with cinematic styling….
Production house Banjoman has signed director Emily McDonald for exclusive representation in Ireland. The Glasgow-born, London based director is known for her documentary and commercial work which earned her the Gold Young Director’s award at Cannes. Her credits span assorted global brands including Vogue, Nike, Dazed and Nowness for commercial and documentary projects. McDonald’s portfolio of work includes powerful brand documentaries such as Looking Back with Pride for British Vogue. The short film, which spotlights older members of the LGBTQ+ community, received multiple awards, including Best Micro Doc at Discover Film Festival and Best Documentary Short Film at the British Short Film Awards, leading to a future collaboration with British Vogue, Jimmy Choo and Sink the Pink. McDonald’s work has screened at such festivals as the London Film Festival and at Flare Film Festival, where she was selected as one of six emerging LGBTQ+ filmmakers. She continues to be repped in the U.S. commercialmaking/branded content market by production company Hey Wonderful….
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More