Social media filmmaker and spoken word artist moves into brand advertising
YayBig–a creative and production company led by founding partner/director Sherwin Shilati and EPs Adam Hendricks and John Lang–has landed Gary Turk, marking the British director’s first official national representation for commercial work. Turk is known as an indie filmmaker, music video director, and writer who took his talent as a spoken word performer to the screen via social media. The social media platform was where Turk’s spoken word short film, Look Up, garnered global appreciation reaching 50+ million views on YouTube and over 150 million views worldwide. The five-minute short film combines his spoken word performance with film for a narrative about love, human interaction, and the impact of the Internet on real-life relationships. Recognized by the media, Turk and his film were covered and made appearances on NBC’s Today Show, BBC News, and TIME, to name a few. Look Up was also honored with Gold at the Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards.
Look Up led to another spoken word film for Turk titled Live Rich. Sponsored by FCB Inferno London, the film explores wealth, consumerism and the relationship we have with money.
Turk’s latest short film, It’s Your Future, also follows his spoken word approach, targeting young adults to actively take part in democracy by voting.
Turk’s roots in comedy run deep. He worked at comedian Ricky Gervais’ production company in the U.K. on shows such as Derek and The Office Revisited. He’s also expressed himself as a poet, comedy writer and performer. His spoken word and rhyming method comes fairly naturally. Depending on the project he writes the script or verses to accompany the film, or creates the film around the poem. He also likes to be involved with the music by working closely with musicians who he has hired to create an original score to match his films.
Turk joins a YayBig directorial roster which includes Shilati, Antonio Negret, Christian Swegal, Jay Buim, Will Canon, and Phillip Lopez.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More