April Maxey, one of eight directors chosen to be a part of AFI’s Directing Workshop for Women, has signed with SUPERLATIVE for spots and branding work. Her short film Work was recently screened at the Sundance and Tribeca film festivals. Maxey has directed spots for Jack Daniels, TomboyX, American Girl and the Tribeca Channel…..
Open Road has launched its branding and design division, PopClutch. Open Road and PopClutch will comprise the full-service entertainment marketing company, Open Road. Paul Brodie, sr. creative Director at Open Road, has been elevated to executive creative director/head of creative of PopClutch. Brodie’s wide-ranging experience spans two decades in the broadcast industry, beginning with a fledgling Sky Sports in London, and followed by roles at Showtime Networks, ABC Entertainment Networks, and branding agency Troika as creative director. Brodie joined Open Road in 2020, running creative for all of its design and motion. Brodie will partner in the leadership of PopClutch with executive producer/head of production Sharre Jacoby, who most recently spent seven-plus years as SVP/executive producer at Known Global (previously Stun Creative), overseeing production and operations. Prior to this, Jacoby ran production for branding agency, Pembrook Productions and previously supervised the motion graphics division for 13+ years at New Wave Entertainment. Earlier, Jacoby was postproduction supervisor on multiple films and TV series….
Multi-disciplinary creative studio Spillt has added motion design artisan Ryan Summers and live-action specialist Brian Eloe as sr. creative directors. Summers has been a creative director and animator at Imaginary Forces, Digital Kitchen and the School of Motion. Among Summers’ accomplishments are title sequences for The Pacific Rim and Person of Interest, as well as creative direction for clients including Mercedes-Benz Stadium, Warner Bros, Starbucks, Pokemon and Google. Eloe’s previous posts include creative, directorial and editorial work for 2C Creative, Impossible and Starz. Some of his most notable campaigns include the season launches of CMT’s hit series Nashville, the launch of Paramount Network’s Bar Rescue, the national commercial for HBO’s “Mayweather v. Pacquiao” and the network integrations for brands like Carl’s Jr., Dunkin’ Donuts, Campbell’s Soup, Bank of America and MillerCoors….
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