Station Film has signed director/cinematographer Andrew Wonder for global representation. Wonder has directed commercials for Prudential (Droga 5), Philips (O&M), Microsoft (Omelet), GE (The Barbarian Group) and AT&T (BBDO). He also directed the 2011 short film and viral sensation Undercity, in which he and urban historian, explorer and TEDx presenter Steve Duncan broke into New York subway tunnels and sewers and climbed the Williamsburg Bridge to deliver a visceral, immersive white-knuckle experience for viewers.
“I like to be in the trenches and get muddy,” Wonder said. “My inspiration comes from emotion and feeling, from being engaged. I tell stories and make them feel personal, something I have been fortunate to do most recently with athletes and teenagers. Joining Station and working closely with Michael (company partner/EP Di Girolamo), Steve (managing partner Orent) and their sales team gives me the opportunity to really establish my voice as a commercial director.”
Wonder recently launched the non-profit organization “Right to Win,” dedicated to providing sponsorship to the over 700,000 U.S. High School students who aren’t able to play sports because of their schools’ controversial pay-to-play fees. These students lose the crucial support, discipline and acceptability lessons that team sports provide. The impact of Pay-to-Play is an issue close to the heart of Wonder, a former high school teacher. The foundation, as well as its latest campaign, “The Price of Victory,” launched this spring.
“Andrew is part of the new school of directing talent whose work reflects a talent for connecting directly to his subjects and their stories,” commented Station’s Orent. “Not only is he capable of working on any size production, Andrew’s knowledge and expertise with cameras and new technology, including his ability to build rigs, facilitates his distinctive style. He’s a tech-savvy storyteller and a great addition to Station.”
Wonder, 29, worked his way up the filmmaking ranks as a cinematographer, shooting his first feature film before his 21st birthday, Michael Almereyda’s New Orleans Mon Amour which premiered at SXSW in 2008. An alumni of MTV’s MADE (appearing in a Season 1 episode), he won an Emmy Award for directing the series’ 200th episode. Wonder has been tapped by filmmakers including Antoine Fuqua, the late great Harris Savides, ASC, Paul Schrader and Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer David Turnley to implement his unique style of humanizing digital cameras. In fact, Wonder shot the aforementioned Undercity with a Canon 5DmkII, exploring an overlooked underworld in New York. Prior to joining Station, Wonder was most recently with production house HSI.
