Honor Society has signed director and writer Jazeel Gayle for U.S. commercial representation. Gayle, who is passionate about telling thought-provoking, unnerving, and inspiring stories, has turned out work that is a mix of human rights messaging with stylized visuals that blur the line between graphic design and cinematography. He has brought his vision to projects for brands such as Nissan, Eastern Bank, Alfa Romeo, and Men’s Health.
Lifelong film lover Gayle was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and immigrated to Brooklyn, NY, where he was raised. As a child, he enjoyed drawing but found himself creating vivid backstories for all of his illustrations, which inspired him to try writing. As a writer, Gayle was able to create great stories but yearned for a visual element to elevate his work. Fusing both of his passions, he pivoted to film and attended the School of Visual Arts. After graduating with a degree in Film with a concentration in directing, he got his feet wet as a production intern under Megan Kelly, who’s exec producer at Honor Society, and got his start directing professionally on Nissan’s “Nissan GTR Dream” spot in 2019. His “soup to nuts” approach to filmmaking allows him to fit his touch of creativity within any production limit. Gayle, who was unaffiliated with a production company at the time, earned a slot in SHOOT’s 2020 New Directors Showcase.
Gayle is currently developing two film projects and a series pilot that he will pen and direct. The pilot, Pink and Purple, hearkens back to his roots growing up in Jamaica and follows a young gay boy struggling to come of age in a country plagued with LGBTQ+ discrimination and violence.
Kelly stated, “I’ve been so impressed with how the caliber of Jazeel’s directing work has continued to grow in the short time that he’s had behind the camera. He has such a natural ability for telling powerful stories cast against beautiful visuals.”
“Joining Honor Society is like coming home for me,” added Gayle. “Ever since I was an intern for Megan early on in my career, she has been a tremendous mentor for me in my directing path. She has done a wonderful job curating a roster made up of a wide cross-section of unique perspectives and aesthetics and I’m excited to add my voice to that lineup.”
Gayle is also signed to V A G R A N T S for projects out of Boston.
Review: Director Morgan Neville’s “Piece by Piece”
A movie documentary that uses only Lego pieces might seem an unconventional choice. When that documentary is about renowned musician-producer Pharrell Williams, it's actually sort of on-brand.
"Piece by Piece" is a bright, clever song-filled biopic that pretends it's a behind-the-scenes documentary using small plastic bricks, angles and curves to celebrate an artist known for his quirky soul. It is deep and surreal and often adorable. Is it high concept or low? Like Williams, it's a bit of both.
Director Morgan Neville — who has gotten more and more experimental exploring other celebrity lives like Fred Rogers in "Won't You Be My Neighbor?,""Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain" and "Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces" — this time uses real interviews but masks them under little Lego figurines with animated faces. Call this one a documentary in a million pieces.
The filmmakers try to explain their device — "What if nothing is real? What if life is like a Lego set?" Williams says at the beginning — but it's very tenuous. Just submit and enjoy the ride of a poor kid from Virginia Beach, Virginia, who rose to dominate music and become a creative director at Louis Vuitton.
Williams, by his own admission, is a little detached, a little odd. Music triggers colors in his brain — he has synesthesia, beautifully portrayed here — and it's his forward-looking musical brain that will make him a star, first as part of the producing team The Neptunes and then as an in-demand solo producer and songwriter.
There are highs and lows and then highs again. A verse Williams wrote for "Rump Shaker" by Wreckx-N-Effect when he was making a living selling beats would lead to superstars demanding to work with him and partner... Read More