Featuring Directors Who Have Helped To Shape Advertising In Traditional As Well As New Forms
By Robert Goldrich
Welcome to SHOOT’s spring edition Directors Series, featuring directors who have helped to shape advertising in traditional as well as new forms. As reflected in our cover design, we’ve come a long way since phones were just for talking and a big screen was 25 inches. Indeed new forms of content as well as traditional commercials are represented in the work of notable directors being profiled in this special edition.
Besides our look at established spotmakers, we also put the focus on promising new directorial talent who could very well turn out to be the next major trendsetters. And our accompanying Cinematographers and Cameras Series offers conversations with DPs who discuss their collaborations with directors, and share their observations on and experiences in digital cinematography.
On the new media front, director Brian Beletic of Smuggler provides insights into his all consuming HoneyShed project done in tandem with Droga5, New York, and Publicis Groupe; helmer Martin Krejci of Stink, London, reflects on his adidas web film, Adi Dassler, the centerpiece of a multi-platform campaign for agency 180 Amsterdam; and Chelsea Pictures’ Lauren Greenfield, an accomplished still photographer, feature and short filmmaker, discusses her first major foray into the ad content arena, an emotionally touching U.S. Army short which chronicles the lives of soldiers’ families and the sacrifices they make at home so that their loved ones can serve our country in Iraq. One version of the short is being used internally by the Army, another is playing on its website.
There’s also a bit of DGA Award flavor on our spring menu. This year’s DGA Award winner Nicolai Fuglsig of MJZ talks about what the Guild honor means to him. Past DGA winner Noam Murro of Biscuit Filmworks–whose nomination for the DGA Award in January marked his fifth in the last six years–comments on his feature filmmaking debut, Smart People, which premiered at Sundance, and how that long-form experience was informed by, and will help inform, his commercialmaking. And speaking of Sundance, Frank Budgen of Gorgeous Enterprises, London, and bicoastal Anonymous Content, shares his recent experience at the Sundance Institute’s Screenwriters Lab where he received feedback on his feature script, Shockheaded Peter. Budgen recently garnered his first career DGA Award nomination.
Then there’s Baker Smith of harvest who combines a DGA Award pedigree (he won for best spot director of ’02) with a new, interesting content form, in this case Dust, a short film which premiered at the recent opening of fine artist Ethan Murrow’s show at the Obsolete Gallery in Venice, Calif.
So read and enjoy. And as always, we welcome your feedback.
Links To Profiles
Brian Beletic by Christine Champagne
Frank Budgen by Robert Goldrich
Mathew Cullen by Christine Champagne
Nicolai Fuglsig by Robert Goldrich
Lauren Greenfield by Millie Takaki
Daniel Kleinman by Robert Goldrich
Martin Krejci by Millie Takaki
Francis Lawrence by Christine Champagne
Noam Murro by Robert Goldrich
Suthon Petchsuwan by Millie Takaki
Baker Smith by Robert Goldrich
Links To Features
Up-And-Coming Directors:
Spring Has Sprung by Robert Goldrich and Millie Takaki
Cinematography & Cameras:
Through The Viewfinder by Robert Goldrich and Millie Takaki
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