A Superlounge Diversity Award winner has been announced for 2017: LA-based production company Superlounge will send Jody Lauren Miller to Commercial Directing Bootcamp, March 11, in Los Angeles. “Jody's a filmmaker with hustle, so I know she'll put the bootcamp knowledge to great use in getting to the next level,” said Superlounge director Jordan Brady, who launched the Commercial Directing Bootcamp in 2016, holding sold-out seminars in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Austin and Dallas. The March 11 event will be Brady’s last until the fall; the filmmaker plans to focus on the release of his latest comedy doc, "I AM BATTLE COMIC." The film follows Brady and a squadron of stand-ups overseas to perform for troops serving in the US Armed Forces. It begins screening in select cities this Spring.
In response to the lack of female, minority and LGBT directors at the helm of filmed advertising, the scholarship was launched by Superlounge to help expose these filmmakers to the insights offered by the successful seminar. Filmmakers’ reels were judged on the following criteria:
- Quality of storytelling;
- Need for exposure to industry, tools & information; and
- Passion for making ads.
“While others talk about the diversity problem, we are attacking it, one filmmaker at a time,” Brady said. With nearly 1,000 national TV commercials to his credit, and counting, the director feels an obligation to share what he’s learned. “Yes, we live in a world of tighter budgets where everyone is a ‘filmmaker’,” he said. “But the path to a healthy industry is openness, mentoring and an embrace of community. There are no secrets in a shared economy.”
“I’ve been a longtime listener of Jordan’s podcast, and was instantly on board the moment I saw he was doing a workshop,” said Filmmaker Jeff Hoferer, who attended Brady’s first LA bootcamp. “He did not disappoint. I’ve never met a director of Jordan’s caliber who’s so willing to share insight into the industry he works in. It’s truly refreshing.” Another alum, Brian Petcher, became a 2016 Cannes Young Director Award Nominee after attending the NYC bootcamp and applying techniques and advice learned.
Last November, Superlounge sent two filmmakers – Monty Marsh and Kristyna Archer – to the Bootcamp.
About Superlounge
Superlounge is a boutique production company where indie filmmaker gumption meets studio-level polish. This close knit and impassioned group of directors and producers live and breathe filmmaking. Led by filmmaker Jordan Brady and EP’s Dave Farrell and Vicki Ordeshook, the team is generally too busy plying their trade on set to take themselves too seriously. In addition to Brady, Superlounge’s roster is comprised of award-winning commercial directors Daniel Sheppard, Jeff Aron Lable, Brett Wagner, Barton Landsman and Jeannette Godoy.
About Jordan Brady
Jordan Brady's true passion is commercials, yet he's directed five features films, including the 2010 cult hit feature documentary I AM COMIC (Netflix, Showtime), a Who’s Who of standup comedy launching a filmmaking journey through the current boom that has made him the definitive biographer of the medium's modern era. Even more of today’s top stand ups appeared in Brady’s 2014’s I AM ROAD COMIC (Netflix, Hulu), and he recently returned from Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, filming I AM BATTLE COMIC, which follows Brady and a squadron of stand-ups overseas to perform for troops serving in the US Armed Forces. Brady also hosts the popular podcast RESPECT THE PROCESS, described by Special Teams film editor-turned-director Mark Nickelsburg as “The Rosetta Stone of filmmaking.” His guests over 100+ episodes have included McCann Worldwide Global ECD Bill Wright, Leo Burnett Detroit CCO Steve Chavez, Doner Detroit ECD Chuck Meehan, Adam McKay, Morgan Spurlock, Mike Bigelow, Bobcat Goldthwait and Marcus Nispel.
