Director Paul Riccio has joined The Traveling Picture Show Company (TPSC) for exclusive representation. Riccio had previously been handled by Sandwick Media for spots and branded content.
Riccio’s short film The Timmy Brothers–Water Makers was recently featured at the Just for Laughs Montreal Comedy Festival as well as in a New York Times article. A witty and dry portrait of Bill and Terry Timmy, Brooklyn-based hipster water makers, the tongue-in-cheek film has been recognized worldwide, covered on NPR, studied in a business class at the University of Michigan, and is the basis of a Harvard student’s MBA thesis.
Another Riccio film, Space Cadet about a daydreaming teen and his pothead parents, was a Best Narrative Short nominee at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2013. Additionally the director’s short 8,336,615 was a Vimeo Staff Pick.
Riccio has turned out notable content for such brands as PBS, Funny or Die, Verizon, NASDAQ and the NBA. Along the way his work has garnered honors at The One Show, Cannes Lions, and an Emmy.
Known for his comedy-based dialogue expertise, Riccio brings to TPSC an elevated sense of humor and a diversified background. He is a highly productive writer with a knack for improv and bringing out the best in his actors. “Part of what I love about filmmaking is the roll-up-your-sleeves aspect to it. Everyone having one direction and one goal: to make something really great and entertaining,” said Riccio.
Dawn Clarke, TPSC’s EP/head of sales, said of Riccio, “He’s an amazing talent, so skilled in performance direction. He’s also got a wonderful comedic sensibility mixed with an incredible attention to detail. His work and easy going, collaborative personality really jibes with TPSC’s creative direction.”
Riccio joins a TPSC directorial roster which includes Gus Black, Chris Woods, PR Brown, Justin Shipley, Julian Pugsley, and Paul Street. TPSC is headed by EP John Noble and Clarke. The company is represented by MoButler Reps in the Midwest, Asprodites Reps in the Southeast/Southwest, and Schaffer/Rodgers on the East Coast.
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More