Content development and production company Rodeo Show has signed international commercial director Paul Moore for advertising and branded content. This marks his first exclusive representation in the U.S. market. Moore, a Korean-American, has directed content for brands including Samsung, Toyota, Hasselblad, ASICS, and OnePlus, as well as the band Linkin Park. Moore’s work has also ranked on the top global YouTube Ads Leaderboard.
“Paul has a knack for using technology and lifestyle imagery to make complicated products relatable to global audiences,” said Mike Brady, Rodeo Show executive producer and managing partner. “Rodeo Show is eager to bring his high-tech approach to visual storytelling to the U.S. market.”
Moore noted, “With every production, I’m eager to find a new creative or technical challenge and become an expert in it by shoot day. Whether it’s FPV (first-person view) drones, a seamless transition, motion control rigs, or 360 cameras, I’m always on the hunt for new ways to entertain and keep the viewer’s attention. That’s what advertising is all about.”
Growing up in Japan, Moore’s grandfather, who worked at the famous Toei Studios, introduced him to the world of filmmaking and advertising at a young age. After graduating with a degree in film production from Emerson College, he began working on visual effects and motion graphics for TV shows and films.
Moore racked up a quick series of credits, editing and producing motion graphics for Nickelodeon, Vin De Bona Productions, FUEL TV, and the Institution Post. He also gained early live-action directing experience and some praise, overseeing the opening credits for a Hollywood feature, A Stranger in Paradise.
From there, Moore relocated to China. This introduced him to the Asian production market, where he joined DJI, known for innovative drone and camera technology. He worked his way up to creative director of its in-house brand studio, developing videos for advertising, product launches, social media, retail, and branding campaigns.
During this period, Moore traveled the world filming with drones in the ruins of Chernobyl, as well as inside an active volcano in Indonesia. He also worked as a director on Linkin Park’s Hunting Party China Tour, where he was the first to use drones on a pre-programmed flight path for shooting multi-cam live concerts. One particularly memorable effort saw Moore and his team assisting in the aftermath of the 2015 Nepal earthquake, using drones to map out the city of Kathmandu in 3D to aid NGO damage assessments.
Moore continued working in Asia, contracting with CNN Create in Hong Kong and developing award-winning campaigns for Hyundai and Fujifilm, as well as in Vietnam, which remained a vital production hub during the early days of the COVID pandemic.
Moore is enthused over exploring new territory with the Rodeo Show team, whom he met at Cannes several years ago. “From day one, I could tell how much Rodeo Show cares about and invests in their talent,” concluded Moore. “You’re not just a number on their roster–and their ability to scale for any size job made them all the more appealing.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More