Directing duo the Freise Brothers of Biscuit Filmworks teamed with ad agency RPA on this in-theater promo for the upcoming 16th annual Newport Beach Film Festival, which will start April 23 and run through April 30. Titled “Skeet Art,” the piece follows an eccentric, rifle-toting new-age punk and her butler/skeet puller through a field of high grass, where they pause to shoot a round of skeet. Clay pigeons have been replaced with homemade color bombs filled with brilliant powder, with which the sharp-shooting artist paints the sky in breathtaking fashion.
This new form of nontraditional “painting” is akin to the creativity of new, as yet undiscovered artists whose often unconventional work is on display at the Newport Beach Film Festival. “Skeet Art” is part of RPA’s “Know New Art” campaign promoting the Fest.
Credits
Client Newport Beach Film Festival Agency RPA Joe Baratelli, executive VP/chief creative officer; Pat Mendelson, sr. VP/group creative director; Scott McDonald, VP, creative director/art director; Andrea Drever, associate creative director/copywriter; Gary Paticoff, sr. VP, chief production officer; Selena Pizarro, VP/executive producer; Grace Wang, assistant producer. Production Biscuit Filmworks Freise Brothers, directors; Christian Evans, DP; Shawn Lacy, managing partner; Holly Vega, exec producer; Mercedes Allen Sarria, head of production; Thaddeus Herrick, producer. Editorial Cut+Run Lucas Eskin, editor; Michelle Eskin, managing director; Carr Schilling, exec producer; Amburr Faris, head of production. VFX Jogger David Parker, creative director. Music Track “Ophelia” written and performed by Ezza Rose, courtesy of Angry Mob Music. Post Company 3 Siggy Ferstl, sr. colorist; Rhubie Jovanov, exec producer; Matt Moran, sr. color producer. Title Design & Animation Laundry! PJ Richardson, creative director; Michael Bennett, exec producer; Kirsten Collabolletta, producer. Audio Post Lime Studios Dave Wagg, mixer; Adam Primack, assistant; Jessica Locke, Susie Boyajan, exec producers.
Dancer turned director Ezra Hurwitz collaborates with Ailey II artistic director Francesca Harper, featuring movement as museum pieces against the Whitney Museum of American Art’s striking architecture for this short film titled Echoes of Ailey. Commissioned to celebrate “Edges of Ailey” at the Whitney Museum, the film accompanies the first large-scale exhibition on the life and enduring legacy of visionary artist and choreographer Alvin Ailey. “Edges of Ailey” is currently on view at the Whitney until February 9.
Animating iconic images from Alvin Ailey’s 20th-century repertory, the film expands on the exhibition by constructing a visual narrative around his storytelling and influences. Set to Radiohead’s “Everything In Its Right Place,” dancers from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ailey II, and The Ailey School capture the emotional core of the company’s history--physically situating Ailey’s masterworks amongst the Whitney’s collection.
“As a child, my grandmother took me to Ailey’s Revelations once a year,” said Hurwitz. “No matter how often I saw it, the work captivated me. There isn’t one specific thing I hope viewers take away from the film--or one way to interpret its images. It’s meant to be an abstract work, like Ailey’s creations.”
Turning to his archive, Hurwitz and Harper illuminate key sequences symbolic of Ailey’s profound legacy, closing on an uninterrupted sequence from "I’ve Been Buked," the opening movement of Ailey’s legendary "Revelations." Carrying a watershed moment back to its own medium, Echoes of Ailey captures the multigenerational impact of Ailey’s work, continued by his organization. The short film first premiered on Nowness.
