Merman has added director Mark Albiston to its roster for U.K. representation spanning commercials and branded content. Albiston has directed for such brands as Ikea, NatWest, Lloyds, BT, Vodafone, Apple, SKY, Thomas Cook, Toyota and Three Mobile. Over the years his work has picked up awards at competitions including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Creative Circle and The One Show. His charming campaign for Lipton that captures the symbiotic relationship between an introverted schoolboy and his kind-hearted bus driver tugs at the heartstrings and as a result, received widespread critical acclaim. Albiston’s short films Run and The Six Dollar Fifty Man both won the Jury Prize at Cannes as well as Best International Short at the Sundance Film Festival, among many other accolades on the festival circuit. His feature film Shopping won the Grand Prix at the Berlin Film Festival. Albiston’s most recent film Datsun is a proof of concept for his feature film The Blood Moon currently in development. Datsun had its European debut at the Berlin Film Festival and its North American premiere at SXSW, before having a successful festival run winning best short, best director, best actor, best cinematography at many other fests….
Great Guns has signed director James Lawes for U.K., Amsterdam, Middle East and Asia representation. His dedication to the craft shines particularly in Chevrolet’s “RS Moments,” a technical challenge that required the creation of a seemingly single shot to whisk the audience on a head-spinning journey in and out of cars in the city, using drones, Russian arms, motion control and Steadicam. Other brands for which Lawes has directed include Renault, McDonald’s, ITV, Cancer Research UK, Nature Valley, Halifax, Meningitis Now, Accenture, Canon, Royal Mail, Pfizer, and Lexus. His work has earned awards at Cannes, EvCom and the New York Film Festival, which saw him win Best Charity Film three times, Best Industry Newcomer and Best Director twice. Lawes also has to his credit varied music videos, TV shows, documentaries, and short films. His most recent short, the chilling Be Good, crowned him Best Director at the British Horror Film Festival and picked up several other nominations from the British Independent Film Festival, Fargo Fantastic Film Festival, and Latitude Film Awards….
Montreal-based production studio L’ÉLOI has signed photographer and director duo Jodi+Alex–consisting of Jodi Heartz and Alex Blouin–for representation in Canada. Jodi+Alex’s partnership has been forged over a decade of shared artistic endeavors, starting from their early days in still life photography to now directing. Alex’s background in graphic design and DJ-ing mixed with Jodi’s in retail management and fine arts has allowed them to create work that extends beyond the final JPEGs, even providing direction for in-store events surrounding their content and handcrafting soundscapes with cross-industry talent. Standout pieces include colourful, texture-focused visuals for SSENSE x Moncler, a cover shoot for Elle Québec, and stills for Bloomberg…
