Luke Jaden, who earned a slot in this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase, exec produced and directed this short film for ZARA Kids titled Sisters. It began as a personal project with Jaden delving into the mundane, human moments of childhood along with the wild joys of exploration as a kid. The short centers on the special bond between two sisters as an adolescent girl reflects about life as she falls into a daydream.
The film stars Jaden’s actual family and was shot in what he considers “the most magical place on earth”–the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Among the dynamics motivating the director was the shared connection between his two daughters which he described as the “boundless, infinite love they communicate between one another. A universal language shared that’s not spoken; yet poetic through silence…or even the way they look at each other.”
This homemade piece was shot on film (35mm & 16mm) by cinematographer Jonathan Patterson. Production company was ONE at Optimus, which represents Jaden for commercials and branded content,
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Credits
Client ZARA Kids Creative Skylar Gudasz, writer/voiceover. Production ONE at Optimus Luke Jaden, director/exec producer; Diane Michelle, exec producer; Jonathan Patterson, DP. Editorial Ariana De Simone, editor. Music Delilah Montagu, composer. VFX Optimus Ryan Wood, VFX lead; Tyler Nelson, title designer; Christian Allan, conform & deliverables. Color Grade Ethos Color Cameron Marygold, colorist; Brayden Deskins, producer. Audio Post Wave Studios George Nicol, sound designer. Camera & Lenses Panavision Film Scan and Processing Tony Landao at Kodak NY (shot on Kodak film, 16mm and 35mm). Cast Rory, Indigo and Diane Special Thanks To: Kodak, Anne Hubbell, Yolanda Crocker, Panavision, Stan Glapa, Mike Carter, Camera Ambassador, Erica Duffy, ONE at Optimus, Dave Buehrle, MNRK Publishing, Michael Frick, Stephanie Morgan, Chad Johnson, John Kurkowski, Matthew McCaughan, Wave Studios, Arri.
Steve Fuller wrote, directed and served as artificial intelligence creative lead on this AI spec film for the Amazon Fire TV Stick.
Fuller took on the spec piece not as a tech demo but rather as a storytelling experiment. He was no stranger to AI going into the project, having deployed it for the past couple of years on treatments and as a means to supercharge his design work. Still, the veteran director--who’s enjoyed a longstanding relationship with Jeff Lewis’ The Directors Network--felt the need to learn and experience more when it came to AI. Thus he initiated a spec piece so he could integrate AI even better into his narrative toolbox.
Spurred on by a desire to discover how his directing instincts could translate into the best utilization of AI resources, Fuller came up with a creative concept for a product he was a user and fan of--the Fire TV Stick. What if a treasure trove of iconic characters and worlds were racing towards a huge Fire TV Stick in the middle of a desert, converging there in order to compete for viewer attention? And the climax of the spot has a household about to make the fateful choice for what they’re going to watch from all these varied options and forms of entertainment.
While via AI he was able to amass major celebrity talent and elements of blockbuster entertainment franchises for the Fire TV Stick adventure, that wasn’t the objective for Fuller who explained, “I was not trying to make a short film and suddenly have it star Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise. Instead I wanted to see if I could use AI to make a really big and epic commercial.” The spec project was designed to open up the opportunity to curate imagery, create video sequences--all the while making choices as a director. “I approached it as I... Read More
