By Millie Takaki
PORTLAND, Ore.—Directors David Daniels and Chel White have teamed with partner/executive producer Ray Di Carlo to launch Bent Image Lab, a hybrid animation laboratory/live-action production house headquartered in Portland.
The company name, explained Daniels—who’s best known for his tenure at Vinton Studios, Portland—sprang out of the founders’ desire to make the venture "a place where you can bend the rules, bend light and bend the imagination."
Daniels is known for his mixed-media prowess, with animation ranging from CGI to clay. He has helmed spots for such clients as Levi’s, M&M’s, FOX Sports, Pepsi, Nabisco and Fanta. Daniels animated all three seasons of Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, and served as sequence director on Peter Gabriel’s "Big Time" music video. Daniels’ work has garnered honors at assorted competitions, including the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show, the Clios, the Daytime Emmy Awards and the Tellys.
While most of his commercialmaking endeavors have been through Vinton, Daniels was also briefly repped by Skyler Animation, Portland (SHOOT, 2/15/02, p. 7). While there, his work included serving as creative director on a Roundup weed killer spot for the Wolf Group, New York.
White’s former U.S. spot roost was New York-headquartered Curious Pictures. Among his credits are commercials for Reebok, Fila, adidas, Lugz, Coors, Honda and Coca-Cola. His TV program endeavors include an episode of the stop motion animation series The PJs, and a parody for Saturday Night Live that recreates the clay animation techniques used in the Christmas TV classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. White’s work has gained recognition at the AICP Show, the Clios and the British Design & Art Direction competition.
Di Carlo got his start serving on the crew of director James Cameron’s The Abyss, and went on to contribute effects on a number of other features. Di Carlo has produced spots for Nintendo, Reebok, Chase Manhattan, Cellular One and Raid, as well as a short for Saturday Night Live.
The Bent roster also includes several up-and-coming artisans, including live-action director Kazuo Ohno, CG art director Adrian Grey, designer/modeler Jake Burgard and animator/ graphic designer/Flash artist Pascal Campion.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles — "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson — that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More