Production house kaboom has added director James Lovick to its roster, marking his first U.S. representation.
A product of a family steeped in cinema, Lovick absorbed a film education on set working in a variety of crafts–editing, DP, stills photography–that continue to inform his approach as a director. It was a discovery process that led to directing acclaimed documentary series for the BBC and Channel 4, including one that followed Eddie Izzard during his journey to do 43 back-to-back marathons for Sport Relief. These invaluable opportunities in unscripted storytelling were inspiring but prolonged, so Lovick turned to short-form to find his home in branded content and advertising with humanity at the fore.
The diversity of experience–windows into many worlds–and the constant problem solving opportunities are just a few of the aspects of advertising that Lovick appreciates. Over the past few years, he has directed for a wide range of brands, including films for Charles Schwab, Visit Jersey, Kenwood, Baileys, Dorset Cereals, Vodafone VOXI, and WWF India.
“James is a rare talent who is able to create beautiful and compelling docu-style stories as naturally as his ability to help a product shine via tabletop,” said kaboom EP/founder Lauren Schwartz. “He came up through the ranks of production to find his calling as a director. He can span genres, can edit, and sees the world through a photographer’s eye. All of this makes him a force of creativity.”
In a truly contemporary twist, Lovick became connected to kaboom via Instagram–where mutually admired perspectives sparked a conversation that led to his joining the company’s roster. Resourcefulness and an open approach to client collaborations were unifiers between Lovick and kaboom, solidifying a relationship started, appropriately, with curated imagery.
“Lauren and I share a great many perspectives about the industry and forging meaningful relationships that help elevate the process and projects,” reflected Lovick. “While I’ve spent the last few years focusing my attention on work in the UK, I am now ready to expand into the US with kaboom – a woman-owned company that’s boutique in size–accessible, involved–and with incredible reach.”
Review: Director John Crowley’s “We Live In Time”
It's not hard to spend a few hours watching Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield fall and be in love. In "We Live In Time," filmmaker John Crowley puts the audience up close and personal with this photogenic British couple through the highs and lows of a relationships in their 30s.
Everyone starts to think about the idea of time, and not having enough of it to do everything they want, at some point. But it seems to hit a lot of us very acutely in that tricky, lovely third decade. There's that cruel biological clock, of course, but also careers and homes and families getting older. Throw a cancer diagnosis in there and that timer gets ever more aggressive.
While we, and Tobias (Garfield) and Almut (Pugh), do indeed live in time, as we're constantly reminded in big and small ways — clocks and stopwatches are ever-present, literally and metaphorically — the movie hovers above it. The storytelling jumps back and forth through time like a scattershot memory as we piece together these lives that intersect in an elaborate, mystical and darkly comedic way: Almut runs into Tobias with her car. Their first chat is in a hospital hallway, with those glaring fluorescent lights and him bruised and cut all over. But he's so struck by this beautiful woman in front of him, he barely seems to care.
I suppose this could be considered a Lubitschian "meet-cute" even if it knowingly pushes the boundaries of our understanding of that romance trope. Before the hit, Tobias was in a hotel, attempting to sign divorce papers and his pens were out of ink and pencils kept breaking. In a fit of near-mania he leaves, wearing only his bathrobe, to go to a corner store and buy more. Walking back, he drops something in the street and bang: A new relationship is born. It's the... Read More