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    “Free Solo” Directors Join Stept Studios For Spot Representation

    By SHOOTUpdated:No Comments2820 Views
    Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi (l) and Jimmy Chin
    LOS ANGELES --

    Stept Studios has added Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin–the filmmakers behind Free Solo, the Best Documentary Feature Oscar winner in 2019–to its commercial roster of talent for US representation. Prior to joining Stept, Vasarhelyi and Chin were handled in the ad arena by Caviar.

    Vasarhelyi and Chin have been longtime collaborators with Stept. Their partnership started with a project for Panerai. Promoting the launch of Chin as the luxury watch brand’s ambassador, an intimate short directed by Stept founder/CEO Nick Martini highlighted Chin’s fearless life as a filmmaker and adventurer. The two continued working together on additional projects including the launch campaign for the Ford Bronco and Powder Hounds for Samsung, which Chin shot on the Galaxy S20. 

    In a joint statement, the wife-and-husband team of co-directors and co-producers Vasarhelyi and Chin shared, “We are excited to formalize our relationship with the Stept team–over the last several years they have become one of the most inventive storytellers in the brand space. We’re looking forward to working with them to bring new stories and worlds to life.” 

    Stept founders Nick Martini, Alex Martini, and Cam Riley have known Chin since their early days touring the world as professional athletes, with Nick Martini and Chin sharing The North Face as a brand sponsor. Since that time, they have collaborated on projects for brands such as Ford, Panerai, Samsung, and Got Milk? 

    “I’ve been lucky enough to travel and shoot with Jimmy a lot over the past decade,” said Nick Martini. “In recent years, our relationship has grown stronger through collaboration on countless brand projects, and the timing felt right to partner with both Chai and Jimmy in a more meaningful way. Global audiences have recognized their strong perspective as filmmakers, and we are excited to showcase their talents in the U.S. advertising market. Their eye for sharing exceptional human stories is second to none, and the Stept team is charged up to find ambitious projects to tackle alongside them.”

    Vasarhelyi and Chin’s success in film and television continues with several upcoming projects, including a feature documentary about the events of the dramatic rescue of the Wild Boar soccer team from the Tham Luang cave in Thailand, and a scripted feature about the distance swimmer Diana Nyad, starring Annette Bening, among several series in production. 

    In addition to the Oscar, Free Solo–an intimate, unflinching portrait of rock climber Alex Honnold–won a BAFTA Award and seven Emmys. Among Vasarhelyi and Chai’s other notable filmmaking credits is Meru, which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015 and earned a place on the 2016 Oscar shortlist for Best Documentary Feature.

    Stept Studios maintains bases of operation in Los Angeles, and Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

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    Category:News
    Tags:Elizabeth Chai VasarhelyiFree SoloJimmy ChinNick MartiniStept Studios



    Director Mark Rydell, An Oscar Nominee For “On Golden Pond,” Dies At 97

    Friday, August 14, 2026

    Mark Rydell, the Oscar-nominated director of the sentimental blockbuster "On Golden Pond" who worked with such Hollywood heavyweights as Henry Fonda, Katharine Hepburn, Steve McQueen and John Wayne, has died. He was 97.

    His daughter, Amy Rydell, told The Hollywood Reporter that her father died Thursday of natural causes at a retirement community for the entertainment industry in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

    "Hard to put into words how much I loved my dad," she posted Friday on her Instagram account. "He was truly one of a kind. Funniest and most talented person I've ever known."

    "On Golden Pond" earned 10 Oscar nominations
    "On Golden Pond," which teamed Fonda with Hepburn and his daughter, Jane Fonda, was nominated for 10 Oscars. Henry Fonda and Hepburn won leading acting honors and the film won for screenplay, which Ernest Thompson adapted from his play of the same name. Rydell was nominated for directing but lost to Warren Beatty for "Reds."

    It earned over $119 million at the box office, making it the second-highest grossing film of 1981 behind "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

    "On Golden Pond" was Henry Fonda's final movie role. He starred as Norman Thayer, an emotionally brittle and distant father who becomes more accessible at the end of his life after his teenage grandson spends the summer with him and his wife, Ethel (played by Hepburn), at their cottage in New England. The film's story resembled Fonda's real-life relationship with daughter Jane, who said working on the movie together helped resolve some of their issues. The elder Fonda died at age 77 months after winning his only Oscar.

    Rydell's other Oscar-nominated films were "The Fox" in 1967, "The Reivers" with McQueen in 1969,... Read More

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