Tobin Kirk has joined entertainment brand consultancy and marketing innovations agency Troika as managing executive producer. The announcement was made by company founder and CEO Dan Pappalardo. Tobin will be overseeing all production at Troika’s 25,000 square foot facility in Hollywood, including the creative studio and live action production subsidiary, Troika Production Group.
Tobin comes over to Troika after a four and half year stint at Blind Inc., where he was EP and producer on projects such as an interactive music video for Coldplay’s single “Ink,” the “Jump Forward” commercial for XBOX/Microsoft, “Your Story” for ancestry.com, and commercials for AT&T, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Lunchables and Sealy Mattress.
In addition to his time at Blind Inc., Tobin has a diverse background working on the main title sequence for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Blur Studio, commercials for Chrysler and ‘Gatorade Billion with A52, and “We’re all in this together,’ an in-flight video for Method/Virgin America with Green Dot. Tobin spent three years with Farmer Brown working for TBS, CBS, Mark Burnett Productions, Al Roker Productions, The Ant Farm, Bunium/Murry & Endemol USA.
Tobin also worked for video artist Bill Viola for over six years, bringing Viola’s unique vision to life. Viola’s projects included the London National Gallery, Athens Olympics, the Getty Museum, Opera National de Paris, Guggenheim Museum, Munich’s EON Corporation and Anthony d’Offay Gallery.
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