RSA Films has signed filmmaker Jonny Mass for commercial representation in the U.S. and U.K. Mass–who had previously been with RadicalMedia–has directed campaigns for the likes of BMW, Toyota, Porsche and Ducati, putting him on the fast track as a sought-after car director.
“Jonny is an incredible talent whose work captured our attention immediately,” commented Luke Ricci president of RSA Films US. “His visual storytelling is visceral and fun, reflecting his passion for driving and the action genre. His technical approach to filmmaking never undermines the characters in his work, which is a very difficult line to walk.”
Mass shared, “It just took one meeting with Luke and [EP] Buddy Brakha to realize the special nature of what’s going on at RSA and I had to be part of it. There’s this intoxicating energy and excitement that fills the atmosphere with every interaction. If one didn’t already know the longstanding legacy of RSA, they’d think it was the hottest up and coming shop around. As a director, that’s the type of energy I want to be surrounded by!”
Mass–who's an alumnus of the 2019 SHOOT 17th Annual New Directors Showcase–noted that he grew up on “some of the greatest action-comedy movies of all time–and I’ll be honest, I’m a fiend for them. The bigger the stunts, the harder the laughs, the more horizontal the lens flare, it’s what gets my blood pumping. In my ‘Octane Symphony' commercial for Ducati, I designed a drone shot in collaboration with Aether Films that came down from a building, shot through a gap in the street, and landed in a motorcycle chase through traffic all without ever cutting. Many feature films have since replicated this very shot.”
Mass brings that same palpable energy to spots he’s directed for Facebook, Persol, Spotify and Michelin, along with doc-style shorts. Among them, The Underdog for Red Digital Cinema, about a fight club fighter and his alternative take on what it means to win, and The Legend of Solorzano, a Vimeo Staff Pick about a great off-road driver at the Baja 1000 whose unrivaled moves come from driving the streets of Tijuana. His latest short with Sony, Cowboy Currency, is inspired by the video game “Red Game Redemption” and delivers a take on the Wild West that’s comedic and self-aware.
Mass is a self-taught filmmaker who studied behind-the-scenes videos of his favorite films on YouTube, then researched what tools were used for specific shots. “The art of filmmaking is the ability to reverse engineer one’s subconscious understanding of storytelling through the medium of cinema,” he offered. “It’s about educating ourselves on how to break it down. Once we’ve learned how to do that, it’s just about the making.”
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More