Directors Lily Baldwin and Nora Kirkpatrick have joined integrated production house Tool for worldwide representation spanning commercials, branded content and VR projects.
Baldwin began her career as a professional dancer with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet, and performed in the documentary Ride Rise Roar, which premiered at SXSW in 2010. Now, based in both New York City and Los Angeles, Baldwin has blossomed into a filmmaker known across the industry for her unique documentary style. Her films Sleepover LA, A Juice Box Afternoon, Sea Meadow, and more, have been featured at SXSW. Her work crosses into the music industry as well, where Baldwin has directed music videos for artists including Blood Orange, The Forms, Joan Osbourne and Stranger Cat. Baldwin was also recently chosen to direct Misty Copeland, a documentary for Glamour’s Women of the Year Awards at Carnegie Hall. Baldwin has been named by ShortsHD as one of “The Top 10 Emerging Directors to Watch.” She is currently working on a new virtual reality project called “Through You” with artist Saschka Unseld, which received a grant from the 2016 Sundance Institute New Frontier/Jaunt VR Residency.
Kirkpatrick, best known for her acting roles in The Office and Greek, and a founding member of the band Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, graduated from UCLA in 2007 with degrees in Theater Film and Television. She recently co-created, co-wrote and co-directed a new 360 sketch comedy series for Hulu with Mike O’Brien (SNL, Portlandia), called Virtually Mike and Nora, in which they both star. This is a first-ever VR comedy series, which debuts early this year on the platform and its VR app. The first two episodes, titled “Airplane” and “Twins,” were showcased at Sundance.
“We are so incredibly excited and proud to add these powerhouse female directors to our roster,” said Oliver Fuselier Tool’s managing partner of live action. “Lily has an unparalleled ability to bring performance to life through film, and Nora’s background in theater, as well as her filmmaking prowess make for an exceptional and diverse addition on our live action roster.”
