Biscuit Filmworks has added filmmaker Lance Oppenheim to its roster for commercial representation in the U.S. and U.K. Oppenheim is known for crafting candy-colored documentaries that blend nonfiction storytelling humor with heightened, cinematic formalism. His films are layered with humanity and flourishes of the surreal.
Inspired by the larger-than-life stories that unfolded around him in his native South Florida, Oppenheim has been making films since he was in his teens. While in college, he became the youngest active contributor to The New York Times Op-Docs and received six Vimeo Staff Picks. He is a former Sundance Ignite Fellow, has been featured as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” and was named one of Forbes’ “30 Under 30” in 2022. His first feature, Some Kind of Heaven, premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures and Hulu in 2021 to critical acclaim. The film was produced by Darren Aronofsky and The New York Times, one of the paper’s first feature-length film productions. Oppenheim has worked with brand clients including Google, Yahoo, Apple & Tribeca, Blizzard, Cox, and Chinet.
Shawn Lacy, partner and managing director of Biscuit, said, “Lance is so remarkably smart and talented, and has so much potential in the advertising world. His work is funny but also has a nuanced side that resonates so beautifully with audiences. I can’t wait to help bring that emotional heartbeat to commercial projects.”
Oppenheim said, “I’m very excited to be joining Shawn, Noam [director/co-founder Murro], and a cohort of directors I deeply admire at Biscuit. The work Biscuit does is singular, and I can’t wait to work with them in bridging the sensibility of my film work into the world of advertising.”
Oppenheim–who was formerly repped in the U.S. advertising arena by m ss ng p eces–is currently in production on a documentary series with HBO and Josh and Benny Safdie’s Elara Pictures, as well as a documentary feature with FX/Hulu and The New York Times, both releasing in early 2024. Oppenheim is also developing fiction projects with Natalie Portman, Elizabeth Olsen, Ari Aster, and Aronofsky.
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