Los Angeles-based production company Superlative has signed director Melanie Chung. The Canadian born director has completed spots for Macy’s, Nike, Coke, Discover Card, BC Hospital and Canada’s Airports….
Blink has signed director David Dearlove for representation in the U.K. and Amsterdam. An award-winning director and creative who began to direct scripts while working at Engine in the U.K., Dearlove amassed credits spanning Women’s Aid, Royal Air Force and the Kiyan Prince Foundation. The latter won the Titanium Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Lions. The piece titled Long Live The Prince, part of an anti-knife crime campaign, brought Prince–the schoolboy football prodigy who was stabbed and killed at the age of 15 while trying to stop another child from being bullied–back to virtual life on the 15th anniversary of his death. The Kiyan Prince Foundation is the chartity run by Kiyan’s father, Dr. Mark Price OBE. Now via Blink, Dearlove focuses on further developing his directorial career. Alongside his advertising work, Dearlove directed Taj Mahal Presents…A Short Film. The short won best comedy distinction at the Aesthetica Festival and a Gold YDA at Cannes….
Stink Studios has made two promotions–Ivan Faerman, from head of delivery, Buenos Aires, to head of operations, Americas, and Sean Quinn, from executive producer, U.S. to head of production, Americas. Faerman will be responsible for optimizing processes and will support both the company’s technical infrastructure as well as its business operations as Stink Studios continues to scale up. After building successful relationships with some of Stink Studios’ biggest clients as an EP (Pinterest, Grammarly, Wealthfront) and establishing new ways of working across the organization during the pandemic, Quinn will now oversee a growing team of EPs and producers across the Americas….
Music Biopics Get Creative At Toronto Film Festival
Many of the expected conventions of music biopics are present in "Piece by Piece," about the producer-turned-pop star Pharrell Williams, and "Better Man," about the British singer Robbie Williams. There's the young artist's urge to break through, fallow creative periods and regrettable chapters of fame-addled excess. But there are a few, little differences. In "Piece by Piece," Pharrell is a Lego. And in "Better Man," Williams is played by a CGI monkey. If the music biopic can sometimes feel a little stale in format, these two movies, both premiering this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, attempt novel remixes. In each film, each Williams recounts his life story as a narrator. But their on-screen selves aren't movie stars who studied to get a part just right, but computer-generated animations living out real superstar fantasies. While neither Williams has much in common as a musician, neither has had a very traditional career. Their films became reflections of their individuality, and, maybe, a way to distinguish themselves in the crowded field of music biopics like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "Rocketman." "This is about being who you are, even if it's not something that can be put in a box," Pharrell said in an interview Tuesday alongside director Morgan Neville. Also next to Pharrell: A two-foot-tall Lego sculpture of himself, which was later in the day brought to the film's premiere and given its own seat in the crowd. The experience watching the crowd-pleasing "Piece by Piece," which Focus Features will release Oct. 11, can be pleasantly discombobulating. A wide spectrum of things you never expected to see in Lego form are animated. Virginia Beach (where Pharrell grew up). An album of Stevie Wonder's "Songs in the Key of Life."... Read More