Welcome to the Special Spring 2019 Edition of SHOOT’s Directors Series. Our mix of profiles spans world class talent along the lines of Sir Ridley Scott, Adam McKay and Spike Jonze. Scott reflects on his triumphant return to directing ad fare after an 18-year hiatus, and his first foray into helming U.S. series television. McKay’s just concluded awards season includes Oscar and DGA nominations for Vice, and a DGA Award win for the first episode of HBO’s Succession. And Jonze, who’s with MJZ, discusses his Apple Homepod’s “Welcome Home” for which he recently won the DGA Award for commercials.
Another profiled director continues to make his mark in the DGA Awards. Matthew Heineman has twice won DGA Awards for his documentaries–Cartel Land in 2016 and City of Ghosts two years later. Just a couple of months ago, Heineman earned his third career DGA nomination–this time for his narrative feature directorial debut, A Private War; Heineman is handled by Superprime for spots.
Also in the SHOOT Series lineup of profiles are Lauren Greenfield, Floyd Russ and Ramaa Mosley. Greenfield directs commercials and branded content via production house Chelsea while recently launching Girl Culture Films, a shop designed to open up opportunities in the ad/branded entertainment sector for accomplished women directors.
Russ this awards season saw his ZION not only make the shortlist for the Best Documentary Short Oscar but also win an IDA Documentary Award for Best Short Film. Russ, who’s with Tool of North America, has to his credit the Emmy-nominated Ad Council “Love Cam,” and Cannes Gold Glass Lion-winning “Marriage Market Takeover” for SK-II.
And Mosley, who’s with Station Film for spots and branded fare, just made her primetime TV series directorial debut with an episode of NBC’s Blindspot. This came on the heels of the release of her second feature film, Lost Child.
Meanwhile our up-and-coming ensemble consists of: a former agency creative director who’s landed her first production house roost; a director who’s made an auspicious debut in the U.S. market with a Grammy-nominated music video and an a Super Bowl spot; a filmmaker whose recent endeavors span 2nd unit feature work, his first primetime TV series, and ad fare that includes sponsor tie-ins to major Marvel theatrical releases; an accomplished illustrator with a stellar family filmmaking lineage, translating into a directorial debut on a short that takes us back and forth between reality and imagination; and a director whose “film school” consisted of a global real-people documentary campaign, eventually leading to a recent string of branded entertainment viral hits.
And then in our Cinematographers & Cameras Series, we meet four DPs–one who recently garnered his first career Best Cinematography BAFTA Film Award nomination; another whose film made a major splash at Sundance; a cinematographer whose recent work on a Netflix series had him continuing a collaborative relationship with a director that has spanned short and long-form fare; and a lenser who reflects on a hybrid documentary/narrative series for Amazon Prime, which also contains elements of improv.
So read on and enjoy. And as always, we welcome your feedback.
