Production company Maverick.NYC has expanded its directorial roster with the addition of Davide Gentile, the team known as Space Monkeys, Johan Stahl and Trent Jaklitsch. Stahl joins from Bully Pictures in Los Angeles; Gentile, the Space Monkeys and Jaklitsch were not previously repped in the U.S.
The directors bring distinctively different backgrounds to Maverick.NYC. They were identified by company exec producer Brad Johns and his team after a period of substantial research. “We were looking not just for great filmmakers, but also directors who reflected our values and our approach to solving problems,” Johns noted. “Brands are interested in connecting with consumers now in deeper ways, and they’re doing that by telling stories in more human tone. We’ve responded by bringing a fresh European sensibility to the marketplace with the talents we’ve recruited.”
Gentile is an Italian director now based in London whose polished, cinematic style has been tapped by such major brands as BMW, Bose and Perugina. His short film for Bose, “Music is my Language,” a captivating love story told wordlessly, was recognized as a winner at the 2015 Cannes Young Directors Awards (YDA).
Space Monkeys is the Spanish directing team of Roberto Dominguez and David Ortiz. Hailing from the agency world, their short film for F4 Studio was a winner at the 2014 YDA competition. With a witty, humorous approach to short-form narratives, they collaborated with agencies across Europe for such brands as PlayStation, Toyota and Spotify. Their gay rights PSA for Amnesty International, by contrast, is a powerful message about the struggle for same-sex couples around the world.
Jaklitsch, who’s based in Brooklyn, is a School of Visual Arts-educated talent whose skills as both an editor and a director are apparent in the complex narratives he weaves. Often working in a documentary style that incorporates everything from dialogue and voiceover narration to the use of archival footage, his self-edited tale of childhood ambition and dreams, “Supersymmetry,” was both a YDA winner as well as a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Stahl offers a more traditional scripted approach to directing. With a self-deprecating (and typically Scandinavian) sense of humor, Stahl came up through the ranks working for the Danish national broadcaster, an experience that’s given him a soup-to-nuts skill set and experience working across a wide range of genres and techniques, from documentaries to live TV. His commercial work includes spots for such brands as GE, Shell and Carlsberg.
