John X. Carey–who was nominated for the DGA Award as Best Commercial Director of 2013 on the strength of Real Beauty Sketches, a short film viral sensation for Dove out of Ogilvy & Mather, Sao Paulo–has joined Anonymous Content. Carey had formerly been handled by Tool of North America. He directed Real Beauty Sketches while at Paranoid US (his roost prior to Tool). The short went on to become the most viewed commercial of all time, the third most shared commercial, and winner of the Cannes Lions Titanium Grand Prix.
In the lauded short, a forensic sketch artist draws women based on self-descriptions and how others describe them. The differences are striking, underscoring that women’s self-image falls short of capturing their true beauty, as more accurately reflected through the eyes of others. The artist never actually sees the women he sketches. His drawings are based solely on the verbal descriptions given to him.
Since the major splash made by Real Beauty Sketches, Carey has continued to direct ambitious ad fare. This year alone his work includes: the Cannes Lion Grand Prix Pharma winner, Phillips’ “Breathless Choir”; University of Phoenix’s “Voicemail” featuring NFL star receiver Larry Fitzgerald remembering his late mother; and “Dillan’s Voice” for Apple, sharing the moving triumph of an autistic teen who learns to express himself through using an iPad.
Carey’s work over the years has garnered 50 wins and nominations at commercial award competitions such as One Show, AICP Show, D&AD, Clios, and Cannes Lions.
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More