Jerk Store–the directing team consisting of Ben Weinberg and Pat Andrews–has signed with SUPERLATIVE, the production company under the aegis of managing director David Kwan, EP Pia Clemente and creative manager Stefan Dezil.
Jerk Store’s body of work includes humorous spots for such brands as Pizza Hut, Expedia, Orbitz, Taco Bell and Subway.
Dezil said of the directorial duo, “Their work is based on the absurdity of everyday life, with a perfect balance of genuine humor and memorable set pieces.”
Kwan added, “Applying comedy to noteworthy food and beverage campaigns, Jerk Store has developed a knack for building brands.”
Prior to connecting with SUPERLATIVE, Jerk Store had last been repped in the U.S. ad market by Tool of North America. And prior to transitioning to directing, Weinberg and Andrews worked on spots as creatives at Saatchi & Saatchi, DDB and JWT.
For their part, Weinberg and Andrews have seen various approaches to humor come and go, as they moved over from the creative to the production side. “We watched comedy get quirkier and quirkier,” said Weinberg. “Sometimes the product gets lost. Jerk Store is weird, but never too weird. We find the funny moment, the kernel. Maybe an awkward moment but always situations common to daily life. Sometime we might even offer up a hint of insight. Our big advantage is that having been creatives ourselves we can sympathize with everything that goes into the process.”
The duo cited the recently completed short, Get Happy, to highlight their comedic chops. In the less than four-minute film, a stoic man comes to life, courtesy of a playful, smiley-faced bag floating through the park. The man is seen dancing throughout the gardens, following the white plastic sack, until a maniacal twist occurs. Get Happy was featured at the Austin Comedy Film Festival and Los Angeles Comedy Film Festival.
Juliette Welfling Takes On A Musical, A Crime Thriller, Comedy and Drama In “Emelia Pérez”
Editor Juliette Welfling has a track record of close-knit, heartfelt collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, a four-time BAFTA Award nominee for Best Film not in the English Language--starting with The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2006, then A Prophet in 2010, Rust and Bone in 2013, and Dheepan in 2017. He won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet.
Welfling cut three of those features: A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. And that shared filmography has since grown to most recently include Emelia Pérez, the Oscar buzz-worthy film from Netflix. Welfling herself is not stranger to Academy Award banter. In fact, she earned a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2008 for director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Emelia Pérez is a hybrid musical/drama/thriller which introduces us to a talented but undervalued lawyer named Rita (portrayed by Zoe Saldana) who receives a lucrative offer out of the blue from a feared drug cartel boss who’s looking to retire from his sordid business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamt of being (Karla Sofía Gascón in a dual role as Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Pérez). Rita helps pull this off, orchestrating the faked death of Del Monte who leaves behind a widow (Jessi, played by Selena Gomez) and kids. While living comfortably and contently in her/their new identity, Pérez misses the children. Pérez once again enlists Rita--this time to return to family life, reuniting with the kids by pretending to be their aunt, the sister of Del Monte. Now as an aunt, Pérez winds up adopting a more altruistic bent professionally,... Read More