Directors Caitlyn Greene, Andrew Litten and Marcus Tortorici have joined Brooklyn-based production company Voyager for commercials and branded content in the U.S. This marks the first spot representation for all three filmmakers.
Greene is a director and editor based in New York City, who earned a Primetime Emmy in 2015 and an ACE Eddie in 2016 for her work editing HBO’s Peabody Award-winning miniseries The Jinx. She went on to write and direct “August”, a short narrative film which premiered at Slamdance Film Festival in 2017. Greene recently directed “Dean Goes Surfing” for Poland Springs, which garnered her a Vimeo “Best of the Month” Staff Pick as well as “Lil Red,” a retelling of the classic fairytale for YouTube with Grey, which premiered at this year’s Sundance and screened at SXSW.
Litten possesses agency experience, and also comes from an editing background, having worked with brands such as Nike, Levi’s and Google. He brings both strong visual storytelling and truthful documentary sensibilities to his work behind the camera, including surprising films for Church’s Chicken and a forthcoming international campaign for P&G.
And Tortorici is the former directing partner and childhood friend of Voyager-alum Henry Busby (now with Rattling Stick). Tortorici’s abilities as a visual storyteller are clearly demonstrated in his past commercial work for Everlast, as well as in his work with 360i on Champion’s first-ever campaign, which just launched. His unique sense of humor and playfulness, on the other hand, shows through in his direction of “Little Bits and Star Wars,” and his Andy Mineo music video “DANCE (You See It)”.
“When we founded Voyager, we wanted to build a place for emerging directors, where they could hone their voices and advance their craft. I’m proud to say we’ve achieved that goal for our directors thus far, and I look forward to providing the same for Caitlyn, Andrew and Marcus,” said EP Andrew Hutcheson.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this yearโs Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa โT-Rexโ Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shieldsโ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More