By Sarah Woodward
Director/ cinematographer David Wagreich and the directing team Speck/ Gordon (Will and Josh, respectively), have signed for commercial representation in the U.S. with Santa Monica-based Omaha Pictures. Additionally, executive producer Jodi Kemper has joined the production house headed by managing director Diane McArter. Kemper, who was previously head of production for four years at bicoastal Reactor Films, replaces executive producer Andy Traines, who moved over to bicoastal Anonymous Content.
Wagreich joins Omaha after three years at bicoastal/international @radical.media, his first spot roost. His recent work there includes ads for KPMG via J. Walter Thompson, New York; Nissan via TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles; and Gas de France out of Australie, Paris. Currently airing is his Target spot, "Plunge," via the client’s in-house agency, which promotes the discount retailer’s Club Wedd gift registry service. In the ad, a newlywed couple, decked out in wedding formalwear, leaps into a pool of water.
Wagreich is currently in production on his first Omaha job, a campaign for Credit Suisse First Boston via Messner Vetere Berger McNamee Schmetterer/Euro RSCG, New York. Through an affiliation with Toronto-based Radke Films, which maintains an affiliation with Omaha, the director/cinematographer also recently helmed a spot for Hydro One, out of Brand Works, Toronto.
"The Target spot really struck me as exemplary of David’s unique voice—his languid, lyrical, poetic, visual storytelling," said McArter. "His work has great characters and great humanity. As he looks to grow his career, I’m excited about him having the opportunity to grow in narrative, stylistic and conceptual realms—and to tell more stories."
Wagreich was attracted to Omaha’s boutique size, as well as to McArter’s hands-on approach to handling directors’ careers. Based in Los Angeles, Wagreich began his career working in various capacities on feature films in the 1980s. Working his way up the ranks, he served as second unit cinematographer on features such as Glory, For the Boys and Sleepless in Seattle, and he was second unit director on Legends of the Fall and Leaving Normal. Between feature assignments, Wagreich began working as a commercial DP for a range of directors, including Jim Sonzero of bicoastal Venus Entertainment. Wagreich’s move to directing was a natural progression that grew out of industry relationships he’d developed over the years. By ’98 he’d fashioned a viable directorial reel consisting of spots for MCI, Lexus, Southwest Airlines and Compuware. Based on that work, Wagreich was signed by @radical.media (SHOOT, 5/8/98, p. 1). Additional directing credits include spots for Lucini Olive Oil and Morgan Stanley.
Speck/Gordon are in production on their first job through Omaha: a multi-spot branding package for Sears and Young & Rubicam, Chicago. Omaha director Paul Gay will also helm some ads in the campaign.
Speck/Gordon spent the past two-and-a-half months working on six campaigns in Canada via Radke Films, through which they connected with McArter. Among those projects was "Late Wife," an offbeat humor spot for IKEA via Toronto agency Roche.
Speck/Gordon join Omaha after two years at bicoastal RSA USA, where they directed spots for Dunkin’ Donuts, out of Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos, Boston; Hershey’s Almond Joy via Ogilvy & Mather, New York; UPN, out of now defunct Dweck!; and Polaroid for Leo Burnett USA, Chicago. The helmers’ current focus is on developing their penchant for what they call "observed humor." Said Speck, "Working on six campaigns back to back, we really immersed ourselves in commercials for the first time in about a year. We feel that we’ve found our voice and what we respond to in commercials, which is observed humor with realistic photography." Added Gordon, "It’s subtle comedy that allows us to explore nuances and slice-of-life moments."
The co-directors currently have some longform projects in various stages of development, and they have written and directed two short films: the Oscar-nominated 30-minute Culture and the five-minute Angry Boy. Based largely on the strength of the short films, they landed their first spot roost at @radical. media, where they stayed for a year before joining RSA USA.
Wagreich and Speck/Gordon round out an Omaha directorial roster that also consists of Gay, Robin Armstrong, Peter Goldschmidt, Michael Grasso, David McNally, Rupert Sanders and Vincent Ward. The company’s sales are handled on the West Coast by in-house rep Pia Alexander, in the Midwest by Chicago-based David Wagner & Associates, and on the East Coast by Ziegler Management Group, New York.
After Documentaries About Taylor Swift and Brooke Shields, Director Lana Wilson Turns Her Camera To NYC Psychics
Filmmaker Lana Wilson had never thought much about psychics. But the morning after Election Day in 2016, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she found herself drawn towards a sign that promised "$5 psychic readings" and wandered in.
Much to her surprise, she found it to be a rather profound experience. She can barely even remember what was said, but it was emotional and comforting. And it would set her on a seven-year journey to make a documentary about this strange and misunderstood tradition, "Look Into My Eyes," which expands in theaters this week.
"I think I had totally misjudged the whole psychic tradition," Wilson said. "I had trivialized it and seen it as this silly thing, despite the fact that millions of people around the world engage in it… I'd had this personal experience where I, as a lifelong skeptic, found comfort in a psychic one day. So part of my initial perspective was what if it doesn't matter if it's real or not?
In the years since that fateful encounter, Wilson's own profile has raised significantly for her documentaries about Taylor Swift, " Miss Americana," and Brooke Shields, " Pretty Baby." But the idea of the psychics lingered. The film, unjudgmental, funny and poignant, takes viewers inside the homes, and sessions, of several New York City psychics
Wilson spoke about her process, her revelations and why she decided to not take Shields up on her offer to be one of the subjects in this one. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Did you find many of your friends shared your own assumptions about psychics?
WILSON: One of my closest friends is a therapist and she immediately got it. She was like, "This is totally different than therapy. But, also,... Read More