Director/editor Bradley Ross has launched Open Swim, a Brooklyn-based production company. Ross, the former president of Manhattan Productions, teams in the new venture with executive producer Amyliz Pera.
Open Swim works to guide projects from start to finish, an approach already being applied to multiple projects currently underway, including comedy and lifestyle spots for electrical equipment company, Brother; interviews and product showcasing for pharmaceutical brand, Skyrizi; and creative direction of a new campaign for the hair supplement brand, Nutrafol. A project for pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk will be Open Swim’s latest focus.
“Bradley and his team have been with us from the beginning to help us express our voice,” noted Dr. Sophia Kogan, one of the Nutrafol founders. “Bradley makes the interview process so easy, which is why there is so much humanity in his work. We are backed by science, but our driving force is still our connection with how people feel, and Bradley gets to the heart of that, which is one of the things that makes our partnership so valuable.”
Partners who have worked with Ross in the past are looking to continue their collaborations via the new entity. ”It is rare that you get the opportunity to work with a director that becomes a true partner in your project or production,” shared Steve Pytko, SVP, director of broadcast production at Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness. “Bradley and his whole team are so eager to do just that; become our creative partner on jobs big and small. Bradley wants to get involved as early as possible to help guide the team and bring his vast experience to each project. I have always felt that Bradley and his team become an extension of the agency’s creative and production departments. Working seamlessly with all of us and delivering over and above all expectations. Bradley has become one of our ‘go-to’ directors and production companies.”
Ross has more than 15 years of experience directing, editing, and producing a wide variety of content. His commercial clients include Volvo, Nutrafol, Pfizer, and Brother. No stranger to the non-fiction genre, Bradley co-produced and served as an editor on the Oscar-nominated, Emmy Award-winning documentary Cartel Land, an unprecedented, on-the-ground exposé of two vigilante groups and their shared enemy–the Mexican drug cartels. Ross’ other notable feature credits include editing the News & Documentary Emmy-nominated documentary Escape Fire and exec producing the TIFF Audience Award-winning Here Alone as well as the Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning The Kindergarten Teacher, starring Maggie Gyllenhaal. Ross’ most recent film Centigrade–for which he was an editor and producer–took on the challenge of recreating a subzero environment by shooting in an ice cream freezer.
Open Swim EP Pera has a diverse history in entertainment and advertising with 30 years in the industry as a performer, writer/producer, and exec producer. While a performer and choreographer, (AEA and SAG/AFTRA member), Pera cultivated an interest in the other side of the camera. She was the owner of a stills representation and management company, which eventually landed her in an agency job as a writer/producer. Pera then joined newly formed production company Twist and translated her experience to live action to open Twist’s New York office as executive producer. There, she worked with a myriad of clients from Target, 3M, Apple, McDonald’s and Ad Council until taking a hiatus for a book project. After writing and editing the title “After That Day: Stories of Epilepsy,” Pera reconnected with Ross at Open Swim.
“Bradley always had a holistic way of executing projects, and now he has cultivated a company where everyone is treated as a maker, and where no one is siloed in the process,” said Pera. “I’ve worked with a lot of directors over the past 30 years, and Bradley has that thing–you know it when you find it. He is charismatic, assiduous, and unafraid.”
Ross described Pera as “a multi-faceted talent,” adding that “she not only can outsmart any challenge, but has transformed our culture both internally and externally to establish humanity and kindness in the rigid world of production. It’s something that is so important and often gets overlooked. She was actually my first boss who I learned from 18 years ago, and I’m still learning from her every day.”
In addition to its work in branded content, Open Swim has two feature films in development. The upcoming projects include a film starring Edie Falco (The Sopranos, Nurse Betty, Oz), and Homesick, a survivalist journey seen through the eyes of an 11 year old.
