Bicoastal Mutt Film has signed Italian director/cinematographer Adriano Falconi for exclusive representation in North America spanning commercials and branded content.
Falconi began his career in Milan studying fine arts. He was drawn to cinematography because of the unique blend of the technical, and the deeply aesthetic nature of being a photographer. Literally looking through a lens and knowing what to focus on helped him bring his stories to life. And It’s ultimately stories that inspire Falconi. He has created some memorable films, but also impactful commercials for clients including Hewlett Packard, Converse, NHTSA, Bauli, Puma, and Tesla.
Falconi has been working in the U.S. and Canada, Eastern and Western Europe and the UAE and for agencies and clients including Havas, DDB, BETC, BBDO, Leo Burnett, McCann, Publicis, S&S and Stern. Prior to joining Mutt, he had been repped most recently in North America by production company Durable Goods.
Falconi’s short film Thomas about a bullied, adolescent boy has attained critical acclaim and has won several film festivals including Hollywood Gold, IdieX Film Fest, Halfilm Awards, The IndieFEST Film Awards & Global Shorts.
Thomas is a beautiful look into both the pain of being different and the joy that can come from acceptance and understanding. It was conceived as part of The Trevor Project.
Mutt EP/partner Beth George said, “I am so moved by Adriano’s work. When I first saw it, I thought well, of course, he can tell an emotional story, he’s Italian! Clichés aside, his talent is a universal one and comes from a deep understanding of the human condition. His work resonates because it’s so honest.”
Mike Brady, Mutt EP, has been working with Falconi for many years. Brady said, “More than any other director that I’ve had the pleasure of working with in my career, Adriano captures the emotion of the story on screen. Viewers can’t help but watch and become engaged themselves”.
Falconi shared, “Commercials are both simple and highly complex. When you direct a commercial you have from 30 to 60 seconds to tell the story, so that’s two to five seconds max for each scene. What makes this complex is you don’t have the time to build a proper character arc so you can’t rely exclusively on acting skill alone. You need actors who can deliver the message and the emotion. Ultimately, the emotion needs to whisper to the audience’s senses and it’s via photography, art direction, location and composition, finally sound and music. In some sort it is way more complex than longer formats because it requires a director to be extremely analytical and strategic.”
Falconi is represented in France by EddyFilm and in Italy, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and South America by the Antonella Perillo Agency.
Mutt Film in repped by indie firms Daria Zeliger Reps on the East Coast, O’Brien&Co. in the Midwest, and RC&Company on the West Coast.
Apple’s “Fuzzy Feelings” Wins Primetime Commercial Emmy Award
Apple’s “Fuzzy Feelings” won the primetime commercial Emmy this evening (9/7) during the first of two Creative Arts Emmy Awards ceremonies being held this weekend in the Peacock Theater at LA Live. The yuletide film out of TBWAMedia Arts Lab was directed by Lucia Aniello via Hungry Man in tandem with stop-motion animator Anna Mantzaris of Passion Pictures.
“Fuzzy Feelings” introduces us to an office worker by day and stop-motion artist by night. As an employee, she works for a boss whom she’s grown to hate. So at night, her stop-motion creations put him in dire straits. The young woman makes her stop-motion fare by deploying the iPhone 15 Pro camera and a MacBook Air with M2 to edit it. However, when the woman's day job takes a turn and she starts to see her boss in another light, so too do her stop-motion endeavors as we see the value of working towards a kinder world, and what better time to start than during the holiday season?
Director Aniello is no stranger to the Emmy proceedings. As creator of the HBO Max series Hacks, she has won two Emmys (writing and directing) as well as a DGA Award. This year she is nominated for three more Emmys on the strength of Hacks--Outstanding Comedy Series as well as writing and directing for a comedy series.
This marks the second straight year that an Apple film has won the coveted primetime commercial Emmy. Back in January 2024, Apple’s “The Greatest,” directed by Kim Gehrig of Somesuch, came away with the Emmy.
This time around, “Fuzzy Feelings” topped a field of nominated commercials consisting of: Apple’s “Album Cover” from Apple’s in-house creatives and directed by David Shane of O Positive; Uber One | Uber Eats’ “Best Friends,” also... Read More