Director Barton Landsman, formerly of @radical.media, has joined the roster of Third Street Mining Company, the Los Angeles-based shop launched earlier this year by executive producer John LaChapelle and director Neil Tardio Jr. (SHOOTonline, 3/5).
Landsman is a versatile talent who is perhaps best known for his work in comedy. Among his most recent credits are spots for Time Warner Cable and For Eyes Optical. His notable credits over the years span such clients as ESPN, FedEx, AT&T, Monster.com, NFL on FOX, Purina, Sony, the viral hit “Drunken Monkey” PSA (for the U.K.), and Telstra (for Australia).
On the awards front, his “Zoo” spot for Nestle Barrettes out of Paris agency Lowe Alice scored a Cannes Gold Lion.
Landsman made his first major industry mark on the agency side of the business. He worked as a copywriter and creative director at shops that included BBDO New York and Kirshenbaum Bond + Partners (now Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal + Partners), N.Y., before transitioning to the director’s chair. Landsman’s first directing job was for FOX Sports.
Third Street Mining is handled by indie reps Ann McKallagatt on the East Coast, Nikki Weiss & Company in the Midwest, Connie Mellors & Company and Lisa G Reps (Lisa Gimenez Toliver) out West, and The Gossip Company (Jessica Berry) and Alyson Griffith in Texas.
Meet Honorary Oscar Recipient Juliet Taylor, Casting Director With A Filmography Spanning 40+ Years
Juliet Taylor does not give herself credit for Meryl Streep.
In her over 40 years as top casting director behind so many classics, "Annie Hall," "Heartburn" and "Sleepless in Seattle" to name just a few, she did, technically give Streep her first film role. She gave many stars their big breaks. But Streep, she said, was always going to happen — the young stage actor was the talk of the town in New York as soon as she came on the scene. Taylor was simply the lucky one who happened to be casting for "Julia," which didn't conflict with a play.
Modesty is not antithetical to being a great casting director, though, a profession of observation, negotiation and nuance that operates mostly out of the public eye. It's why Taylor's a little nervous about Sunday, when she'll be presented with an honorary Oscar at the film academy's annual Governors Awards in a room full of Hollywood greats.
Recognition is long overdue for Taylor and her peers. Earlier this year, the film academy announced that it would add a new competitive Oscar for casting directors starting with films released in 2025.
"There's so much people don't know about casting actors," Taylor said. "One thing is we negotiate all the contracts and we cast a movie within a budget."
Casting wasn't always the art that it is today. In the studio system, it was more of cattle call, an organizational rather than creative job. But Taylor began her career in 1968 at time of change, mentored by one of the pioneers behind the movement: Marion Dougherty, who scouted talent in off-Broadway plays and turned casting into a more selective, humane process. It was also a profession led by a lot of women. Dougherty used to joke that it's because they didn't get paid much.
The first movie... Read More