People on the Move

Integrated production company ACNE has signed internationally awarded comedy director Tim Hamilton for commercials and branded fare in the U.S. and U.K. Hamilton is best known for his dry, irreverent sense of humor as exemplified in some of the popular films he has helmed and co-wrote, including Truth in Advertising, a Cannes International Film Festival selection, and its sequel The Reel Truth, which was commissioned by Saatchi & Saatchi London for the Cannes Lions.

Hamilton has worked all around the world on a variety of disciplines including TV, film, commercials, and music videos. He has extensive commercial directing experience and has shot hundreds of commercials for brands including Bud Light, Lexus, and Verizon. Hamilton was previously repped by GO Film in the U.S.

Hamilton began his directing career working on music videos for local bands in his home country of Canada. His work has earned him assorted awards including an Epica, Cresta, and several ADDYs.

Redbear Films has signed director Alan Tudyk for his first-ever U.S. commercial representation.  Tudyk, an actor with memorable roles in films I, Robot, Knocked Up and Frozen, and TV shows Arrested Development, Young Justice, Suburgatory, Firefly and many more, has hit the ground running helming a new campaign for Slickdeals produced direct-to-client.  Tudyk will also be directing a scripted series, Con Man, produced by Redbear founder PJ Haarsma and actor/producer Nathan Fillion (Castle, Serenity).  Con Man will star Tudyk, Fillion and others soon to be announced.

Tudyk said, “I enjoyed directing the Slickdeals spots for Redbear and look forward to doing more. I have known PJ Haarsma for many years and have recently been collaborating on several original projects. I have been lucky enough to work with some amazing directors over the past 20 years.  My directing style is borrowed from them all.  Imagine if Frank Oz, Mike Nichols, Joss Whedon, Curtis Hanson, Judd Apatow, Brian Helgeland, Jay Roach, Tom Shadyac, and Michael Bay all had sex to produce a director baby, I aspire to be that baby.”

Tudyk has appeared in myriad television shows and over 20 feature films.  His talents traverse drama and comedy, and he is appearing in the upcoming, Welcome to Me, with Kristin Wiig.  He is currently shooting the Jay Roach feature, Trumbo, opposite Bryan Cranston, Dianne Lane, Helen Mirren, John Goodman, Louie CK and Michael Stulbarg.

Tudyk’s role in Disney’s hit animated feature, Wreck it Ralph, garnered him an Annie Award for his role of King Candy.  He has also been nominated for an MTV Movie Award and SAG Award for his roles in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story and 3:10 to Yuma, respectively.

Mistress, a multi-disciplinary creative agency, has made recent strategic personnel moves in an effort to strengthen leadership at its Los Angeles headquarters and bolster their creative services in the Hamburg, Germany office.

The agency has promoted Ben Beale to associate creative director in its L.A. office. Originally from Grey UK in London, Beale joined Mistress last year as creative director. In a simultaneous move, Mistress has hired Rory Forrest, also a former creative director from Grey UK, as an associate creative director at Mistress.tech to add creative firepower to the agency’s Hamburg operation. A partnership between the agency and the pioneering internet and software company freiheit.com, Mistress.tech focuses on creating software and technological marketing platforms for brands.

Forrest and Beale had worked together as a creative team at Grey London, on such brands as Lucozade and Macleans. Graduates of the Bucks Ad School in London, their work includes print, broadcast, viral video and digital campaigns. They also spearheaded a host of original creative projects, such as an exhibition of social media profile pics in the London Portrait Gallery and the Louvre, and generated royal wedding messages for William and Kate in the form of freestyle raps. Beale’s recent work with Mistress includes the controversial stunt to launch VH1’s Naked Dating series while also leading agency’s PayPal business which has seen PayPal go up against Apple’s iWallet.

Full service media company Bandito Brothers has added Keith Rivers to its director lineup for commercial representation. Hailing from Seattle, Rivers jump-started his directing career creating commercials for Microsoft. Among his projects, Rivers conceptualized and directed a global marketing campaign for Internet Explorer and created the instantly viral Microsoft “Surface” commercial, which received 8 million views and won a Gold ADDY award.

Rivers got his start in his hometown of North Bend, Wash., making short films for 24 Hour Film Races. An avid skier, Rivers perfected many daredevil moves all for the love of capturing them on film. He is currently directing a follow-up to his short documentary film “Salt and Pepper,” which shortlisted at the One Screen Film Festival, and just recently finished a campaign for Fuhu. In addition to Microsoft, Rivers’ previous commercial work has included helming projects for such brands as Chevrolet, Alaska Airlines, Tesla, Hershey’s, Taco Bell, and Volvo.

Bandito Brothers is comprised of partners/directors Mouse McCoy, Scott Waugh, and Jacob Rosenberg, along with a roster of directors that includes Rivers, Larry Charles, Loni Peristere, Benzo Theodore, Tim Damon, Walter Robot, Elliott Lester, Michael Polish and Tim Wilkerson. Recent Bandito clients include: BMW, Kia, Gatorade, Toyota, Sprite, Lexus, Ford, EA and the Gold CLIO-winning Hot Wheels For Real campaign.