Director Rich Wafer–whose work spans spots for such clients as McDonald’s, Nike and Honda, as well as episodic TV for Nickelodeon, ESPN, Comedy Central and Disney Channel–has signed with Washington Square Films where he’s already wrapped a campaign for Walgreens and is currently in pre-pro for a five-day Dow shoot in Montana.
Best known as a visual storyteller, Wafer had most recently been repped for commercials by The Joneses, which he joined in 2007.
Wafer’s career started in the mail room at Ogilvy & Mather, Los Angeles. After a year there, he went into production work, eventually becoming a producer at HKM Productions and later an executive producer at now defunct Propaganda Films.
Wafer then made the transition to director, joining HKM’s roster. His initial jobs there included comedy/dialogue fare for the FOX Sports Network, out of FCB San Francisco, and Nike’s “Baseball Is Dead” spot via Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. He later returned to Propaganda as a director in ’00. Following Propaganda’s closure, he directed commercials via such shops as Reactor Films.
Washington Square’s head of sales Jonathan Schwartz said he was drawn to Wafer’s storytelling prowess, sense of style, and his ability to consistently attract repeat business over the years.
The overall Washington Square Arts & Films is a production and management company with offices in New York and Los Angeles. The company produces television commercials, feature films, documentaries and digital/new media content. The Arts group manages the careers of actors, writers, directors and composers for the stage and screen. This division also handles booking for live performances, public readings and lectures.
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More