NEW YORK -- Pete Johnson, who’s EVP, executive creative director at Deutsch NY, quipped that though he had never directed before, “a lot of directors I worked with would probably argue that’s not the case.” Whatever the interpretation of his hands-on exploits as an agency creative, Johnson recently settled into the director’s chair officially for the first time on Better Half , a short film he co-wrote and co-directed with veteran commercial helmer Adam Jones. The idea for the personal project was hatched... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- The Directors Guild of America (DGA) National Board, in a special meeting held today (3/7), voted unanimously to approve and recommend for ratification a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. “The future is what drives us, and that’s what you see in this agreement. As the streaming sea change we anticipated for so long is now overhauling the industry, and new services continue to enter the market, this pivotal deal boosting streaming residuals beyond traditional TV levels is a major... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The entertainment industry prepared Thursday for an unprecedented shutdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus, canceling upcoming movies, suspending all Broadway performances and scuttling concert tours until it’s safe to welcome crowds back. To accommodate calls for social distancing, Hollywood moved to pause the normal hum of TV productions and the bustle of red-carpet movie premieres. After New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banned gatherings of more than 500 people, Broadway theaters announced... Read More 

LAS VEGAS -- The National Association of Broadcasters has canceled its annual April conference in Las Vegas in response to public health and safety concerns over the coronavirus. The major event showcasing the latest industry technology may take some online/remote form as the organization weighs “a number of potential alternatives to create the best possible experience for our community.” Here’s the full announcement made in a memo, dated today (3/11), from NAB president Gordon Smith: Dear NAB Show... Read More 

LONDON -- Cannes Lions has made contingency plans for its International Festival of Creativity, in light of the evolving global situation regarding Covid-19. The Festival is still scheduled to take place, as planned, from June 22-26 in Cannes, France. But if health and safety concerns warrant it, Cannes Lions organizers are prepared to postpone the event, having secured through the Mayoral office of Cannes and the French authorities alternative dates of October 26-30. If the decision is made to... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Harvey Weinstein was sentenced Wednesday to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual assault, a sight the Hollywood mogul's multitude of accusers thought they would never see. Weinstein, who has been accused of violating scores of women, was convicted last month of raping a woman in a New York City hotel room in 2013 and forcibly performing oral sex on another woman at his apartment in 2006. He faced a maximum of 29 years in prison. Both women that Weinstein was convicted of assaulting — a once-... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal appeals court on Monday restored a jury verdict that found Led Zeppelin did not steal "Stairway to Heaven." The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco handed the major win to guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant and dealt a blow to the estate of Randy Wolfe of the band Spirit. The estate claimed that the 1971 mega-hit "Stairway to Heaven" violated the copyright of the 1968 song "Taurus." A majority of an 11-judge panel overturned a previous ruling that the jury in... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The annual movie exhibition and trade show CinemaCon has been canceled in Las Vegas due to coronavirus, scuttling one of Hollywood's premier hype machines. The week-long conference, which brings together everyone from Hollywood studio executives and celebrities to movie theater owners and equipment and concession manufacturers, had been scheduled to begin March 30 at Caesar's Palace. The cancellation was announced Wednesday in a joint statement by John Fithian, president of the National... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The entertainment industry, a business predicated on drawing crowds in theaters, cinemas and concert venues, is bracing for possible shutdown in the coming weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic, potentially putting on pause the normal hum of TV productions, the bustle of red-carpet movie premieres and the applause of audiences. On Thursday, the upcoming releases of "A Quiet Place 2" and the latest "Fast & Furious" movie, "F9," joined the many postponements. The virus' spread, and dawning... Read More 

TOKYO (AP) -- The tentacles of canceling the Tokyo Olympics — or postponing or staging it in empty venues — would reach into every corner of the globe, much like the spreading virus that now imperils the opening ceremony on July 24. The International Olympic Committee and local organizers say the games are on, but the clock is ticking. The fate of the Tokyo Games touches 11,000 Olympic and 4,400 Paralympic athletes, coaches and sports officials, local organizers, the Japanese government and national morale,... Read More 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Austin city officials have canceled the South by Southwest arts and technology festival. Mayor Steve Adler announced a local disaster as a precaution because of the threat of the novel coronavirus, effectively cancelling the annual event that had been scheduled for March 13-22. Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, the county's top elected official, said no one in the Austin area has been found to have the COVID-19 virus. However, South by Southwest was expected to have drawn an international... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Due to continued uncertainty around coronavirus and spread of COVID-19 in the U.S., The One Club for Creativity will move all in-person Creative Week events online for 2020. The events were scheduled to take place in a number of New York venues from May 11-15. This includes replacing the in-person One Show, ADC 99th Annual Awards and Young Ones Student Awards ceremonies with high-quality streaming events to announce Pencil and Cube winners to the global creative community. Online versions of... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Documentary filmmaker Alison Chernick has joined RSA Films for commercial representation. Her substantial body of long and short-form work includes the feature documentary Itzhak about virtuoso violinist Itzhak Perlman, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best Music Film in 2019 after a widespread international theatrical release. Chernick’s documentary short on Jackson Pollock will premiere on PBS in the spring. She’s done other films on art super stars such as Jeff Koons, Roy Lichtenstein... Read More 

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES -- Bicoastal m ss ng p eces has added Danielle Levitt to its directorial roster for worldwide representation spanning commercials and branded content. An award-winning director and photographer, Levitt has made her mark across art, fashion, branded content, film, and advertising with visually striking, authentic, and contemporary work. Drawing from her extensive photography and fashion background, Levitt expanded her repertoire into commercials in 2016, immediately gaining recognition with “Love... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Evin Shutt has been upped from global chief operating officer and partner to chief executive officer of 72andSunny. With her promotion, CEO Matt Jarvis becomes co-chairman of the global company effective immediately. As the first employee of 72andSunny in 2004, Shutt has played a vital role in shaping the company’s success in its 15-year history, turning the shop’s values into growth and action. From five people around one table to more than 700 staffers in five offices across Los Angeles, New... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Lacey Uhlemeyer has been added to Wondros Collective’s directorial roster for commercials and branded content. In this new year, Uhlemeyer shot a second commercial campaign for Amazon, this time via Wondros Collective. She also just completed her first short film, City of Widows, which is destined for the festival circuit. With viral play across digital platforms, Uhlemeyer won a Webby Award for her series The Artisans of Italy in 2016, and the next year was nominated for Endangered, which... Read More 

BROOKLYN, NY -- Production company 1stAveMachine has signed director, photographer, and interactive artist Em Cole for commercials in the U.S. and U.K. This marks her first representation as a spot director. Cole’s most notable works include the live-action and animated short film/AR installation, “I’m Your Venus,” a modern-day twist and critique on female objectification. She has also helmed Instagram’s global #InstaGiftGuide campaign — which brought to life some of the most popular hashtags trending on... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Brand New School has added Arnaud Boutin to its directorial roster for commercials and branded content. Parisian-born Boutin began his career as an art director and illustrator for Colette, Vogue , and I-D . He launched his directing career as the “AB” of the AB\CD\CD directing collaborative, who made names for themselves with 2009’s Lily Allen music video "Fuck You" which earned the group (consisting of Boutin, Camille Dauteuille and Clement Dozier) a slot in the 2010 SHOOT New Directors... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Director Krista Liney has joined L.A.-based Canyon Road Films for commercial/promo representation in the U.S. Liney, who was previously handled in the ad arena by LAIR, is the inaugural signing for Canyon Road, a production company launched in 2017 by exec producer Lara Wickes. Formerly the SVP of brand creative at A&E Networks for HISTORY, Liney served as EP on that channel’s Roots: A New Vision , which won an NAACP Image Award for Best Documentary. She has earned multiple Emmy nominations... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The American Film Institute says it is postponing its 48th annual AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute honoring Julie Andrews in an apparent response to the new coronavirus outbreak. The organization originally planned to give Andrews its Life Achievement Award on April 25 in Los Angeles. It will be rescheduled for early summer. "AFI's decision to postpone the event is simply in response to the rapidly evolving nature of current events and our promise to ensure the well-being of the artists... Read More 

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) -- Max von Sydow, the self-described "shy boy"-turned-actor known to art house audiences through his work with Swedish director Ingmar Bergman and later to moviegoers everywhere when he played the priest in the horror classic "The Exorcist," has died. He was 90. His agent Jean Diamond said Monday the actor, who was born in Sweden but became a French citizen in 2002, died the previous day in France. "It is with a broken heart and with infinite sadness that we have the extreme pain of announcing the... Read More 

Fittingly, few films in recent memory arrive with a bigger target on its back than "The Hunt." Our quick advice? Lower your weapons. The horror-thriller with a healthy side of political commentary was pulled from release last summer following backlash to its trailer depicting a group of wealthy, liberal Americans kidnapping and hunting down red-state stereotypes for fun. Some commentators — including the president of the United States — were quick to criticize the film in the wake of several... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- North American audiences are not staying away from theaters amid virus concerns, according to the weekend's box office numbers. Disney and Pixar's "Onward" topped the charts as expected and the Ben Affleck basketball drama "The Way Back" also opened normally. "Onward" earned $40 million from 4,310 North American locations, according to studio estimates on Sunday. It's on the lower end of openings for the studio, more in line with "The Good Dinosaur's" launch in 2015. "Onward" is an original... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- There's only one television show that can stand atop the weekly ratings and say it did the same thing more than 40 years ago. That's CBS' venerable newsmagazine "60 Minutes," which was the week's most popular show with an episode that led with Dr. Jon LaPook talking about the coronavirus outbreak, the Nielsen company said. It was the show's first time in the top spot this television season. "60 Minutes" would have to dust off the history books to find the first week it was ever television's top... Read More 

Honda is taking drivers closer to the road than ever before in its new pan-European Civic campaign, created with Wieden+Kennedy London. Spearheading the campaign is this :60 TV commercial, “Feel More,” which shows that the closer you are to the road, the more you feel. Exploring the drive from a ground-up perspective, the visceral film showcases the sporty Civic, designed for people who truly love to drive. Directed by Juan Cabral of MJZ, the spot celebrates Civic’s low driving position which... Read More 

McDonald’s and Leo Burnett London have launched an integrated campaign, “Night Workers,” recognizing and celebrating the millions of dedicated and often unseen people in the U.K. and Ireland who work overnight. The hero film of the campaign is this :60 directed by Sam Brown via Rogue Films. In each scene, the spot explores some of the jobs that unsung night workers do, such as looking after patients in hospitals, maintaining roads, re-stocking supermarkets--but the workers themselves are... Read More 

Panera Bread and ad agency Goodby Silverstein & Partners (GS&P) roll out the “Your Cup Is Always Full” campaign to introduce a new unlimited-coffee subscription for $8.99 a month. After subscribing through the MyPanera app, consumers will be able to walk into a Panera location at any point during the day and get a fresh cup of coffee. “We love our coffee in this country,” said GS&P CCO Margaret Johnson. “It comes with this feeling of optimism--like you can take on anything. ‘Your... Read More 

Austin Peters of RadicalMedia directed this short for masked cowboy country singer Orville Peck. Titled “Queen of the Rodeo,” the video follows Peck and drag artist Thanks Jem, member of the First Nations community and the singer’s original inspiration for the song, as she competes in a pageant held at a local Texas rodeo. The short captures Peck’s modern-day rodeo aesthetic. Warmly lit, ‘70s-inspired cinematography brings the film to life as Peck shifts into a verse from hit song “Roses Are... Read More 

TED Conferences, in collaboration with Chimney, a global creative studio, has released a short animated film celebrating girls and women around the globe on International Women’s Day (Sunday, March 8). With audio from a 2016 TED Talk--”Teach girls bravery, not perfection”--given by Reshma Saujani, founder of Girls Who Code, TED’s filmmaking goal was to create a memorable and approachable story to teach girls that they will be loved and accepted not for being perfect, but for being courageous... Read More 

Danish butter brand Lurpak® is launching a sumptuously shot brand campaign to encourage people across the globe to take up their spatulas and cook good food from scratch. The campaign from Wieden+Kennedy London reminds us that every moment in the kitchen is an opportunity to make a difference, and a cook’s impact on the world can be greater than we think. Indeed “Where There Are Cooks, There Is Hope.” Centerpiece of this campaign is this playful 60 second TV commercial, directed by Kim Gehrig... Read More 

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