ContagiousLA director's recent work includes Carhartt 125th Anniversary campaign
LOS ANGELES --(SPW)--
“A Reasonable Request,” the dark comedy short directed by Andrew Laurich of ContagiousLA, won Best Comedy at the HollyShorts Film Festival in LA on August 21. The film had its Los Angeles premiere at the fest. Named “Today’s Best Short” by Digg, “A Reasonable Request” was also covered by filmmaking and comedy fanzines such as Film Shortage, Deskhead, The Awesomer, Chortle and Short of the Week, which called it “as filthy as it is darkly hilarious.” The controversial short was also featured on the front page of Reddit. Directed by Laurich and co-written with Gabriel Miller, the film stars John Ennis (Mr. Show with Bob and David) and Stephen Ellis (The Coen Brothers’ upcoming Hail Caesar!).
In the film, a desperate son reconnects with his estranged father to ask an unspeakable favor that will change their lives forever. “I relished the challenge of taking something as absurd as the film’s premise and grounding it firmly in reality,” Laurich mused. “A sick sense of humor is also partly to blame.”
Equally adept at comedic and dramatic work, Laurich followed up his short with “The Rankins,” one of three films he helmed for Carhartt in commemoration of the brand’s 125th year of making gear for hard-working families. Created in-house at Carhartt and produced by ContagiousLA, the campaign features a trio of family businesses that, like Carhartt, have been at it for over a century. This summer, the AICP Show honored “Generations”, a two-minute piece featuring all three families, by including it in the Shortlist for 2015.
About ContagiousLA
ContagiousLA is a creative production company operating in accordance with our passions as producers and purveyors of stories. In short, we do what we like and we love what we do. So long as it’s fun or enormously lucrative, we’re there. Birthed in 2010 by producer Natalie Sakai and directors Jeff Jenkins and Andrew Laurich, ContagiousLA is the kind of shop that grew up on YouTube but reveres the old model. The company has produced (among others) spots for Mercedes, Lucky Charms, Carhartt, Coca Cola, and an award winning short film called Art & Corny that stars advertising luminaries Lee Clow, Gerry Graf, and Jeff Goodby. The ContagiousLA roster is comprised of directors Adriano Falconi, Jeff Jenkins, Ben Ketai and Andrew Laurich.
About HollyShorts
Dubbed “The Cannes of Short Film Festivals” by Indiwire, the HollyShorts Film Festival is an annual festival showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe. HollyShorts is devoted to the advancement of filmmakers through screenings, Q&A sessions and networking events. The HollyShorts Film festival showcases the top short films produced 30- minutes or less. www.hollyshorts.com
