RSA’s Hey Wonderful has signed director John Dolan for commercial representation. A versatile filmmaker, Dolan has a body of work encompassing performance-driven narrative campaigns for Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, Visa, Ford, ESPN, Miller Lite and Mini, along with visually striking campaigns for BMW, Peugeot, Corona and The North Face.
The director’s early work covers the gamut of smart comedy seen in Got Milk’s “Carny” and VW’s “Pursuit,” and most recently the inspired visuals of Peugeot’s “Hands” and The North Face’s “Never Stop.” Dolan’s commercials have won numerous awards including Cannes Lions, D&AD and One Show Pencils, and AICP Show honors.
After graduating from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Dolan studied at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, discovering a passion for improv. He wrote and directed his first short, then began directing spec commercials to build his reel. At around the same time, he became aware of more and more commercial directors having careers in feature films, so he knew he was on the right track. He began his commercialmaking career in 2000 at Anonymous Content; nine years later, he left to join Partizan where he was represented until earlier this year. In addition to directing short-form content, Dolan is developing his first feature film, a thriller entitled One Way Rider, based on his original screenplay.
“I want to do work that’s story-driven, character-driven and visually sophisticated,” Dolan said. “David Bowie once said, ‘Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.’”
The move to Hey Wonderful reunites Dolan with the production company’s managing director/exec producer Michael Di Girolamo, who represented the filmmaker when he began his career. “My relationship with John has come full circle,” Di Girolamo said. “When we first worked together, his talent was obvious, and over the years I’ve watched John grow into a cinematic director with a keen eye towards clever and sophisticated visual storytelling.”
Dolan related, “RSA’s Hey Wonderful is a perfect fit. The company has the boutique management style I want, with the firepower of RSA across commercials, branded entertainment, VR and film and television.”
