Production company Sweetshop has signed acclaimed comedy director Jim Hosking for global representation spanning commercials and branded content. He had previously been handled in the ad arena by Skunk.
Hosking got his start directing promos for MTV both in the U.S. and the U.K., before turning his attention to his singular films occupying an alternate reality and making a name for himself with daringly funny and imaginative commercials for the likes of Cadbury, V Energy, Tic Tac, Tooheys and Xbox.
Hosking’s first feature, The Greasy Strangler (2016), is both a sweet and sad treatise on father/son relationships, and a cult-classic in the making about a grease-encrusted maniac who murders the innocent. The New York Times called it, “just maybe the weirdest movie ever.” Shot in L.A., it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and won Best Comedy at the Empire Magazine Film Awards, as well as The Discovery Award at The British Independent Film Awards.
The director’s second feature film, An Evening With Beverly Luff Linn, also premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and it stars Aubrey Plaza, Jemaine Clement, Matt Berry and Craig Robinson. Peter Bradshaw, reviewing the film for The Guardian, described it as, “an entirely ridiculous shaggy-dog story, a comedy salted with strangeness and seasoned with surreality…it is very funny, and the song about football referees is quietly amazing.”
Most recently Hosking turned his attention to TV, and created Tropical Cop Tales for Adult Swim, a surreal, genre-bending, psychedelic take on the cop procedural and possibly the most bizarre show on the home of out-there TV.
Greg Schultz, managing director and executive producer at Sweetshop USA, said, “Jim’s work is like no-one else’s. He creates characters and worlds that are eccentric, strange, tragic and hilarious at the same time. We all aim to create work that cuts through and helps the brands we’re working for stand out. There’s no doubt that Jim’s work is unique and unforgettable.
Hosking added, “I love to make distinctive, memorable work with striking characters and unexpected humanity with some finely calibrated nuanced top-secret oddness. Luckily that’s exactly what Sweetshop want me to do, so hurrah for that.”
Comedic Director Roderick Fenske Joins Yard Dog TV For U.S. Spot Work
Roderick Fenske, the award-winning agency copywriter/creative director turned comedic director of commercials and films, has joined Yard Dog TV for U.S. representation.
Fenske--known for his idiosyncratic casting, stylish art direction, and blend of practical and digital effects--saw his newest commercial work, for Drink Weird Ice Tea, break earlier this month. His most recent short film, I’m Dead, You’re Welcome, starring JR Russell, Taissa Zveiter, Sandy Eels, and Julia Lorpriore, is making the rounds of film festivals now, having won Best Comedy Short at the Flagstaff International Film Festival last month.
Fenske, who started out in the business as a copywriter, is one of a select group of agency creatives to have found success in both New York and London, where his last post was as a creative director at TBWA there. “I owe so much of my career to Trevor Beattie [TBWA London chairman/creative director at the time], because he believed in me and started my career directing commercials,” said Fenske, citing work for Sony PlayStation, French Connection UK, and Channel 5.
Those spots led to an invitation to become a member of the visionary Swedish film collective known as ACNE. “I learned so much there working in a directing collective. With everybody talking about how to make stuff look stylish and cinematic it was like a film school for me,” Fenske explained. “Production design is so important because humor can be much more unexpected when you have an elevated look.”
Over the course of his career, Fenske’s work has received many international awards from shows including the Cannes Lions, British D&AD, and AICP. He moved from London to Los Angeles, and during this time he met Yard Dog... Read More