January 15, 2017      The five nominees for the DGA Award recognizing Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2016 are: Damien Chazelle for La La Land; Garth Davis for Lion; Barry Jenkins for Moonlight; Kenneth Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea; and Denis Villeneuvee for Arrival..... MJZ and Park Pictures each had two directors scoring nominations for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for 2016. MJZ’s Dante Ariola and Fredrik Bond are up for the honor as are Park Pictures’ Lance Acord and AG Rojas. Rounding out the field is Derek Cianfrance of RadicalMedia..... John Hillcoat--a feature filmmaker (The Road, The Proposition) who successfully extended his reach to commercials, making an auspicious ad debut back in 2010 with Levi’s “To Work” for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore.--has joined Serial Pictures for global representation in spots and branded content. He had previously been handled by production house Stink.....Catherine Locker, former group director, strategic marketing, for Coca-Cola North America, is joining DDB North America in the newly created role of chief of staff....

January 17, 2012      Washington Square Films (WSF) has signed director J.C. Chandor for exclusive representation in its commercial division.  WSF has a long history with Chandor and produced his feature film Margin Call starring Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Penn Badgley and Demi Moore..... Director Paul Gay, whose filmography spans commercials, shorts and TV drama, has signed with O Positive for commercial representation in the U.S. His production house roost in London remains Waspface which he launched last summer with co-founder/executive producer Tim Nunn...Gary Krieg, head of content production at Wieden+Kennedy New York, is leaving the agency next month after some 14 years in order to pursue an independent production venture. Lora Schulson is set to take over his role at W+K, overseeing broadcast and interactive production for the NY office. Schulson has been co-exec director of content production at Y&R NY since 2008, leading (alongside Nathy Aviram) the agency’s integrated production. Her joining W+K represents a change in plans in that she was recently hired as head of integration at BBH NY, a role she was originally scheduled to assume on January 23. She is instead headed to W+K....