Washington Square Films has signed director Anson Fogel for U.S. commercial representation. His credits include projects for such brands as Apple, Volkswagen, Burger King, GE, Microsoft, The North Face, Red Bull, National Geographic, Jeep and Marriott. With a diverse skillset as a director, writer, producer and DP, Fogel brings a holistic approach to work spanning commercials, experimental shorts, feature films and photography.
Prior to joining Washington Square Films, Fogel was with Camp4Collective. There as part of a three-person collective, he was a director on Apple iPhone’s “Don’t Mess With Mother,” which is currently nominated for the primetime commercial Emmy Award. Agency on the iPhone spot was TBWAMedia Arts Lab.
Fogel’s lifelong passion for film was ignited by a childhood spent exploring rural mountains while immersing himself in books, movies and music. He built his career on the crew side, beginning his work on set as an AC, then spending seven years as a DP before directing for brands, documentary and television work. He has won over 20 major film festival awards, including the Grand Prize and three other awards at Banff 2011, a Grand Prize at New Zealand, The Fowler Award at Telluride, The Camera prizes at Trento and Gratz, and had two narrative short film premieres at major film festivals. He is currently based in Boulder, Utah.
Jonathan Schwartz, Washington Square Films’ director of sales and marketing, said, “Anson’s work is incredibly cinematic and incorporates wonderful storytelling and impeccable attention to detail.”
Fogel related, ““The team at Washington Square Films truly cares about the work and is very creative and forward-thinking in their business model and approach to the industry. Their diverse involvement across cinema and advertising is vital for where the industry is going.”
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