Production house Tool and ad agency RPA have teamed over the years on promotional fare for the annual Newport Beach Film Festival. This time around, Tool’s Tom Routson directs a two-and-a-half minute trailer/promo titled “Bedtime” for the festival. The piece centers on the Newport Fest’s projectionist who is implored by his elementary school-aged daughter to tell her a tale to help her fall asleep.
What starts out as a traditional “princess in a castle” fairy tale soon spins out of control as the cinephile’s narrative quickly transforms into a theatrical mash-up of notable Hollywood movies from Fargo to Pulp Fiction to Memento to Her. Lucas Eskin of Cut+Run edited “Bedtime Story.”
Director Tim Damon Opens stage20
Director/DP/photographer Tim Damon, most noted for his car spots and sheet metal shooting prowess, has opened stage20. The stage has a specially designed layout for completing world-class car work. Damon is probably best known for his recent combo still/spot assignments for Lexus, Corvette, Chrysler, Toyota and Goodyear. stage20 is located in Gardena, a small city located about 10 miles southeast of Hollywood.
stage20 features everything Damon and rental customers need to complete world class car spots and photography. The cyc stage is 65’ wide, 20’ tall and 100 feet in length. It features two flying flats, two rolling flats/shoot through grill flats and an on-premise 15 x 40 foot proprietary light box system.
According to Damon, stage20 also features proprietary mounts that allow for both video and still cameras to be held concurrently on the same arm. “The result is superior still images,” said Damon. “As opposed to having to ‘capture’ images from high resolution, but low megapixel, video cameras.”
Director Damon continues to be represented for commercials and digital work through Bandito Brothers in Los Angeles, and for still photography through Square Planet Media/Damon Productions.
People in the News….
Gasket Studios, a Minneapolis-based design, animation and visual effects company headed by founder/executive creative director Greg Shultz, has brought Eric Mueller aboard as its executive producer. Mueller has already hit the ground running, working on commercials for General Mills & Cheerios, McDonald’s, Sony PlayStation and Mayo Clinic, as well as an underground-style branded film for Subaru, and an upcoming project for the Provincetown International Film Festival. Most recently, Mueller was executive producer at motion504. During his six-year tenure at the broadcast design and animation studio, he worked with such clients as Target, Deloitte, Greenpeace, Syfy, BBC and National Geographic….Neil Cox has been hired as interactive producer at Richmond, Virginia-based advertising agency Big River. Cox comes over from The Martin Agency in Richmond where he worked as senior digital producer. Cox worked for clients such as BFGoodrich Tires, Norwegian Cruise Lines, XFINITY, Exxon, NET10 Wireless, Colonial Williamsburg and the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum. Previously Cox worked at INM United/SpotTrot and Comcast Spotlight. At Big River he will work for the Virginia Lottery, kaléo, Inc. and Vacation.com, among other varied clients….
