Writer/director Andrew Renzi–who’s earned honors for his short film and documentary work, as well as his narrative feature debut, The Benefactor, slated for release next year–has landed his first career spotmaking/branded content representation, joining ContagiousLA, the production house headed by EP/partner Natalie Sakai.
Renzi has been a film festival darling since his live-action short, The Fort, premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and went on to earn a Grand Jury Prize nomination from the AFI Fest. The next year, his short Karaoke! was nominated for a short film Grand Jury Prize at Sundance as well as at the AFI Fest. A deeply personal short exploring the denial and anxiety associated with imminent loss. Karaoke! was inspired by the death of the filmmaker’s father five years prior. Karaoke! was the recipient of the Panavision Future Filmmaker Award at the 2013 HollyShorts Film Festival.
Andrew Renzi next directed the feature documentary Fishtail, a collaboration with Christie’s Western American Art specialist, William Abbott, and narrated by the iconic Harry Dean Stanton. The doc premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival (where it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature), played museums and festivals worldwide, and won the Artistic Vision Award at the Big Sky Film Festival. Fishtail was acquired by Netflix and is available on its streaming platform.
Renzi returned to Tribeca this year with Franny (now titled The Benefactor), which garnered a Best Narrative Feature nomination at the festival. Starring Richard Gere, Dakota Fanning and Theo James, The Benefactor is set for a 2016 release by Samuel Goldwyn Co. Renzi wrote and directed The Benefactor in which Gere stars as a philanthropist who meddles in the lives of a newly married couple (Fanning, James) in an attempt to relive his own past. Developed as a Sundance Labs project, The Benefactor has what the director described as “an ‘80s studio vibe,” musing that the finished film is “more lush than the budget would suggest.”
Of today’s advertising landscape, Renzi, 30, observed, “The format or delivery platform is not so significant as the objective of attaching a brand to something memorable.” Renzi–who has produced or written numerous films for others–expressed excitement at the prospect of helming spot projects. Beyond the storytelling and visual elements, Renzi appears an excellent fit for celebrity-driven projects. “I really enjoy working with actors,” he said. In addition to working with The Benefactor cast, Renzi, at 23, did a residency (literally) with actor Mickey Rourke, helping develop scripts with the Oscar nominee. That experience has shaped Renzi’s desire to tell actor-driven stories, and to continue working with top actors in the industry. Renzi’s upcoming projects include an untitled thriller he describes as a re-imagining of Sunset Boulevard meets The Shining and which he is co-writing with The Place Beyond the Pines scribe Ben Coccio; a 1980s New York heist drama, Gun City, which he is developing with producer Jay Schuminsky; and a Heat-like LA crime film co-written with Korean American L.A. noir author Steph Cha (Dead Soon Enough). Additionally, Renzi recently co-wrote the Janis Joplin biopic, Janis, with director Sean Durkin.
“Andrew Renzi is poised to become a true master of form and storytelling,” said ContagiousLA’s Sakai. “His films show a real ability not only to access profound emotion but to execute a story with astonishing technical prowess.”
Renzi recently relocated to Los Angeles, and ContagiousLA is putting together an invite-only ad industry reception for the director on November 6 in Beverly Hills.
Renzi comes aboard a ContagiousLA directorial roster comprised of Andrew Laurich, Jeff Jenkins, Adriano Falconi and Ben Ketai.
