LOS ANGELES -- While director Lee Daniels firmly asserts that The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu) is not a biopic, he hopes that the experience of delving into the late, great jazz singer’s life will translate into a rewrite of his own biography, reflecting a new found commitment to stand up for what’s right as a person and an artist. Daniels’ film focuses on the federal government’s persecution of Holiday for performing “Strange Fruit,” a song about Black people being lynched. The lyrics of “Strange... Read More 

One DP finds himself in the awards season conversation for his fruitful collaboration with a first-time feature director. Another brought his experience in stylized fare for the likes of Ridley Scott, Tony Scott and Gore Verbinski to a western directed and co-written by a filmmaker known for his documentary sensibilities. And our third cinematographer has put an indelible mark on a cult favorite TV series which started on TBS and ultimately ended up on HBO Max. Here are insights from Benjamin... Read More 

While the Oscars dominate this portion of the awards season calendar, television still looms large in terms of honors--even with the Emmys quite a ways down the road. TV nominations recently unveiled and currently in play for the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards are coveted in and of themselves while also carrying some prognostication relevance for the Emmys. Any harbinger of things to come would perhaps smile most sweetly upon Netflix which finished a resounding first in the Golden Globe nods... Read More 

Art vs. commerce isn’t necessarily an either/or proposition. The two aren’t always at odds. Sometimes both can peacefully co-exist, if not flourish. And a couple prime examples of such flourishing emerged front and center at the recently concluded Sundance Film Festival. Consider CODA , director and screenwriter Sian Heder’s film about the hearing child of deaf adults who is trying to realize a life apart from her family. CODA won top honors at Sundance--the U.S. Grand Jury Prize in Drama, the... Read More 

Aaron Schneider made his first major industry mark as a cinematographer, lensing assorted music videos and commercials. He gained high profile recognition as an Emmy-nominated and two-time ASC Award-winning DP, all for his work on the TV series Murder One . The ASC Awards came in consecutive years for the “Chapter Four” episode in 1996 and the “Chapter Nine” episode in ‘97. Schneider’s feature shooting exploits spanned such titles as Simon Burch and Kiss The Girls . In 1998 Schneider and his... Read More 

Robin Wright used to joke that her directorial debut had already been made. It was called "Blue Valentine," it starred Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as a couple falling apart, it came out in 2010 and it was directed by Derek Cianfrance, not her. And she'd always assumed that hers would eventually be in that vein, but then "Land" fell into her lap a few years ago. The film, which is now in theaters from Focus Features, finds a successful Chicago woman leaving her life behind after a... Read More 

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Award-winning writers, producers, and actors Donald Glover ( Atlanta ) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge ( Fleabag ) will create and star in Mr. and Mrs. Smith , a new Amazon Original series based on the 2005 New Regency film of the same title. Glover and Waller-Bridge will also serve as executive producers, with co-creator and executive producer Francesca Sloane ( Atlanta, Fargo ), who will serve as showrunner, and executive producers Yariv Milchan and Michael Schaefer (New Regency), and Jenny Robins (... Read More 

LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK -- Nominations for the Writers Guild Awards were unveiled today (2/16) spanning original feature screenplay, adapted screenplay and documentary screenplay. Winners will be honored at a joint (WGA West and East) 2021 Writers Guild Awards virtual ceremony on Sunday, March 21. Making the original screenplay cut were Judas and the Black Messiah, Palm Springs, Promising Young Woman, Sound of Metal , and The Trial of the Chicago 7 . Adapted screenplay nominations went to Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Ma... Read More 

Necessity is the mother of invention. And when the pandemic hit, leaving creatives and producers to grapple with ways to somehow keep business going, Emmy-winning entertainment marketing and production company NuContext got down to inventing, literally. “The world was shut down in March (2020),” recalled Emmy-winning producer Angela Guice who founded NuContext in 2006, embarking on a journey of 15 years and counting which has yielded the conception, production and post of promotional campaigns... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- The producers behind 2020’s award-winning documentary feature ​ The Donut King ,​ directed by Alice Gu, have launched Logan Industry, a full-service commercial and film/TV production company. Following the success of the documentary (which won honors including a Special Jury Award at last year’s SXSW Festival), their next feature project is the scripted biopic version of ​ The Donut King ,​ to be produced with Scott Free, with Ridley Scott serving as executive producer. “It was an organic... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Kash Sree has joined the community, taking on the role of executive creative director for the agency’s Verizon partnership. Sree as ECD will help spearhead the community’s creative vision for Verizon, supporting and reporting to Joaquin Molla, founder and chief creative officer of the community. In addition to his work with Verizon and as a senior leader within the community, Sree will serve as a champion for diverse creative talent and leadership within the agency. Born in Singapore, raised in... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Norman Bates, a directorial duo consisting of Inti Calfat and Dirk Verheye, has join Los Angeles-based multidisciplinary production house Ruffian for U.S. representation. Calfat and Verheye recently helmed the popular Netflix series Into the Night , the first Belgian Netflix Original with a global launch. The six episode show, which centers on a group of airplane passengers trying to avoid a mysterious cosmic disaster, reached the Top Ten Most Watched list on Netflix in more than 60 countries... Read More 

NEW YORK -- The COVID-19 pandemic is having a dramatic and potentially lasting impact on business travel among U.S. marketers, according to a new ANA study. A great majority of survey respondents (76 percent) currently do not allow business travel for their executives. Only 2.5 percent of respondents indicated they would be willing to travel domestically by air on a business trip. The survey was fielded from January 18–29 among ANA members and nonmembers and received 1,631 responses. It revealed that... Read More 

BROOKLYN, NY -- Commercial production company Voyager has signed Canadian director Brent Foster for his first exclusive U.S. commercial representation. The Brooklyn-based shop has also hired Meliz Yilmaz as production manager. Foster’s clients include Canada Life, Chevy, Huawei, McDonald’s, Prince Edward Island, and Nature Valley. He’s been shortlisted numerous times for the Young Directors Award at Cannes. Foster is also represented in Canada by visual storytelling director Mark Zibert’s Scouts Honour, and... Read More 

BROOKLYN, NY -- Production company tinygiant has added award-winning director and creative hybrid Alison Roberto to its roster of talent. This marks Roberto’s first commercial production house affiliation. She was previously freelancing. Specializing in original short-form content, Roberto has led projects for Netflix, MTV, and Disney. Roberto has directed work for brands such as L’Oreal and Kopari Beauty, a natural deodorant brand that became a top seller after Roberto’s “The Truth Stinks” campaign launched... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Director Foley Ellis Ibidapo has joined the roster of The Collective @ LAIR. Ibidapo is a multi-award winning, Nigerian-Jamaican-American director with a cinematic style that he’s applied to a body of work which includes spots, short films and documentaries. A producer, writer, strategist and director, he has worked on all sides of production. The up-and-coming helmer started his advertising career in content shops that have given him a holistic view of his clients’ needs, and he has since... Read More 

BEIJING (AP) -- For two decades, global news outlets have complained internet companies are getting rich at their expense, selling advertising linked to their reports without sharing revenue. Now, Australia is joining France and other governments in pushing Google, Facebook and other internet giants to pay. That might channel more money to a news industry that is cutting coverage as revenue shrinks. But it also sets up a clash with some of the tech industry's biggest names. Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., has... Read More 

TOKYO (AP) -- Seiko Hashimoto appeared in seven Olympics — four Winter Olympics and three Summer Olympics. According to historian Dr. Bill Mallon, her seven appearances is the most by any "multi-season" athlete in the games. Hashimoto made even more history on Thursday in Japan, where women are still rare in the boardrooms and positions of political power. The 56-year-old Hashimoto was named president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee after a meeting of its executive board, which is 80% male. She... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Each and Every Day" represents studies in courage, both in life and in the MTV documentary about young people and suicide. In frank and revelatory conversations, nine survivors recount what took them to the brink and how they fought, and continue to fight, to keep claim on themselves and their right to live. With suicides by young people already on the rise in recent years and the relentless pandemic piling on pressure, a film giving voice to those who attempted or considered suicide takes on... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- The Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS, IATSE Local 706) has unveiled nominations for the 8th Annual MUAHS Guild Awards representing a spectrum of outstanding achievements in make-up and hair styling in motion pictures, television, commercials and live theater. Winners will be honored at the reimagined virtual gala on Saturday, April 3, 2021. Ties in three categories--one feature, two in TV--left each with an extra nomination for a total of six apiece--Feature-Length Motion... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- CBS' reboot of "The Equalizer" with Queen Latifah took advantage of its post-Super Bowl series premiere to continue its strong showing in primetime ratings with its second episode. The revenge drama came in third place and had a major, and inevitable, drop after drawing 20 million viewers in the most coveted of all time slots after the network's airing of the "Super Bowl." Its 8.2 million viewers last week put it behind only old ratings standard bearers "NCIS" and "60 Minutes," according to... Read More 

Can a blind man race his bicycle alone down a curve-filled mountain road? You bet, if he’s being monitored via the instantaneous communication offered by Vodafone’s 5G. In a new spot and this short film directed by Harry Patramanis (represented in the U.S. by CoMPANY Films), the state-of-the-art Vodafone Giga Network 5G helped champion tandem cyclist Christos Sandalakis do what seemed impossible--ride by himself. The work for Vodafone was produced for agency Wunderman Thompson in Athens, Greece... Read More 

Currently in France, a child who’s a victim of sexual abuse by a family member needs to prove that he or she didn’t give consent. A child can thus be required to testify in court to that effect. This is why the association Face à l’Inceste (The International Association of Victims of Incest) and ad agency Publicis Conseil created a new campaign to fight and change the law, calling upon French citizens to sign a petition for justice reform. Centerpiece of the campaign is this animated film... Read More 

A film created by FRED & FARID Los Angeles for Fridays For Future, Greta Thunberg’s global climate change movement, illuminates the irony of the fact that government-funded space programs and the world’s ultra-wealthy 1% are laser-focused on Mars--and yet, 99% of humans will never get to Mars. 99% of humans will have to stay on Earth. Aptly named “1%,” the film is a satirical tourism ad for Mars. It excites viewers about the prospect of escaping to the Red Planet where there is “no war, no... Read More 

Directed by production house MJZ’s Craig Gillespie (known for film work including I, Tonya and Lars & The Real Girl , and commercials for brands including Nike, Apple, Call of Duty, Snickers), this campaign for Vistaprint created by Austin, Texas-based agency CALLEN centers on different small business owners who each experience what could be a disastrous moment for their companies. Each business owner, though, tackles the challenge with ease, with the help of Vistaprint. In this spot, “... Read More 

Tim Story of production house brother directed this spot for Signal out of agency Technology, Humans & Taste (THAT). Starring Taraji P. Henson ( Hidden Figures, Empire , an Oscar nominee for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button ), the commercial, "Protect Yourself," underscores the digital era need for privacy/personal data protection provided by Signal. Henson is also, incidentally, represented in the ad arena as a director via brother. Read More 

Black women-owned businesses are vital to the economy and are among the hardest hit by the impacts of the pandemic. Mastercard is announcing the Strivers Initiative, a consumer-facing platform, elevating the visibility of Black female business owners overcoming obstacles to maintain and grow their business, as role models for the community and future generations. The initiative kicks off with this national Mastercard spot featuring Black women business owners from across the U.S. and Grammy... Read More 

This spot devised by adam&eveDDB, London, for Mars Petcare brand Greenies, depicts the hilarious and sometimes frustrating turns that life with a dog can take. Specifically a guy marooned on an island thinks he’s about to be rescued, until his energetic, exuberant dog intervenes. Nonetheless, the canine remains man’s best friend. Entitled “Stick,” the comedic ad was directed by Tim McNaughton of The Bobbsey Twins from Homicide via production house Blink (The Bobbsey Twins are handled by... Read More 

Brooklyn-based 1stAveMachine teamed with Barcelona’s BRUT, which it represents in the American ad market, to produce this animated spot for the California Department of Public Health’s California Tobacco Control Program (CTCP). Titled “Jackson,” this piece follows a habitual smoker--who often craves a drag while drinking coffee, driving through traffic, and even at the movies--transforming his mind, body, and spirit to finally quit his addiction for 10 years and counting. The animated visuals,... Read More 

What do Mark Ruffalo, Huron, Calif. Mayor Rey Leon, Watts, Calif., leader Mama Linda Cleveland, former California Air Resources Board chair Mary Nichols and California Energy Commission chair David Hochschild all have in common? They are just a few of the superheroes on the screen and behind the scenes of nonprofit organization Veloz’s latest Electric For All culture change campaign via creative agency Superconductor. Titled “40 million Reasons to Go Electric,” the campaign carries an... Read More 

The new campaign created in partnership with Zambezi, spans television, outdoor, radio, digital and social media and is Traeger’s most significant campaign investment to date. This comes as Traeger has rapidly risen to become the category leader in wood pellet grills, with the category earning approximately 20 percent of all U.S. grill sales in 2020. The centerpiece of Traeger Grills’ “Welcome to the Traegerhood” campaign from ad agency Zambezi is this TV spot titled “Pied Piper” directed by... Read More 

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