Bicoastal Greenpoint Pictures has signed director Clayton Vila for commercials and branded content in the U.S. This marks his first career representation in the American ad market.
A Los Angeles-based writer and director, Vila is a long-time professional skier who has garnered Bronze at the X Games and starred in dozens of the world’s biggest ski movies. He developed a passion and fascination for filmmaking at a young age while playing with his parent’s home camcorder and officially made the jump from a pro athlete in front of the camera to a career behind the camera filming the bizarre and amazing characters of the ski industry who happened to be his colleagues.
Back to Life, from Red Bull Media House and ESPN, is a film about Vila’s fellow competitor, professional skier Torin Yater-Wallace. The documentary follows Yater-Wallace’s journey from his dramatic childhood–––which saw him survive a week-long coma and his father sent to prison when Yater-Wallace was eight years old–––to his winning run at the Men’s Ski SuperPipe Final in Oslo, Norway’s 2016 X Games. The film premiered at the Rhode Island International Film Festival and earned a Gold Telly for Best Sports Documentary.
Branded shorts include the eponymous Monster Energy and Cowboy for outdoor company REI, the latter earning a Vimeo Staff Pick and a Mountainfilm Festival premiere. He has helmed traditional anthem campaigns for brewer Sierra Nevada, Skullcandy headphones, and a fashion film shot in 16mm for a new boutique swimwear company called Knox Swim. Whether the format is a feature, short, or branded content piece, Vila’s work always reflects his raw, innate creativity and action-seeking spirit.
“We love that Clayton is a professional athlete. To be at that level there’s an innate drive and passion that keeps you motivated. That’s translated seamlessly with Clayton’s more recent filmic path. We feel it in his work”, said Tatiana Rudzinski, executive producer at Greenpoint. “There’s an emotion, a storytelling technique that feels unique and carries its own voice. We’re excited our worlds collided for the next chapter of his career and look forward to riding alongside his successes.”
Villa, who is repped in Canada by Dreamboat, said of his Greenpoint compatriots, “They’re such an experienced and passionate team of creatives, and I’m excited to start accessing their knowledge and progressing my craft.”
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