Commercial film and production company Birth has added Canadian director Devon Ferguson to its roster for representation in the U.K. Ferguson won two Silver Screen Cannes Young Director Awards this year for “Best Use Of Humor” and best “Super Short” for his Monster.com spot “Stare.” He also earned a place in the top 10 at the Berlin Commercial Awards and was shortlisted at the Kinsale Shark Awards 2021 for Best New Director. His comedy web series Bachelor Daddies which he co-created, directed and starred in, was nominated for a Leo Award and is currently written into a TV pilot. Ferguson’s latest work, “Accent” for US insurance company Geico, pokes fun at English accents by showing an American couple’s confusion that their friends appear to have picked up a Cockney accent after a layover at London’s Heathrow airport. A writer and actor as well as a director, Ferguson is a graduate of the Humber Acting for Film/Television Program in Toronto and trained at Second City, UCB School of Improv and The Groundlings Theater in Los Angeles.
Director Rebecca Applebaum has joined Untitled Films in Toronto for Canadian representation. Her short film Spooning was a hit on the CBC network and her directorial efforts earned it a Best Actor award at the Canadian Film Fest and a nomination from the ACTRA Awards. Applebaum’s first foray into commercial directing for BetterHelp–“Distant Friends”–punched through during the pandemic with over 20 million views online. Applebaum is an actor by trade and directing talented memorable performances is the kind of work she loves doing. Her most recent work is another spot for BetterHelp, “Want,” focusing on men’s mental health needs……
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