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Ad agency Jung von Matt/Neue Elbe and directing duo Alex & Steffen stage a visual feast of CGI fun, referencing various effects-driven fantasy blockbusters from the past 20 years, in this lighthearted yet heart-pounding German spot branding Fanta as “The official sponsor of FANTAsy.” When a giant Transformers-type cyber-terror lays siege to a desert castle, a pro wrestler gets catapulted into the fray, bouncing harmlessly off the bot’s metal hide, and a plucky princess slides down a saurian’s back to save the day. Turns out the action—superbly staged and worth several viewings—is taking place in the imagination of a little girl at a family picnic. The intricate sandcastle they’ve built sits nearby, its parapets manned by action figures. Some might say it’s a sad commentary that a kid’s imagination is fueled by soda-pop-culture/Hollywood hype, though in our media-saturated age, this seems about right, and the melee she envisions provides more thrills than most mega-budget flicks can manage. Good thing they didn’t probe her brother’s imagination. That little devil would’ve used the robot to conquer the world and hogged all the Fanta for himself!

Source: Adweek

Congratulations to Kit Lynch-Robinson for winning the Bronze award at Cannes Lions 2013 for “Meat Snacking Helmet” helmed for Mattessons Fridge Raiders with Saatchi & Saatchi London.

Excerpt from Cannes Lions:

“To create a hands-free snacking and gaming device, allowing gamers to eat Fridge Raiders without disrupting their game play. We needed to reach gamers in an authentic way. So, rather than use traditional advertising we partnered with an online gaming celebrity called Syndicate Project to help co-create the device. With 3.6m subscribers on YouTube, 415,000 Facebook fans and 605,000 Twitter followers, he not only gave the brand credibility, but acted as our media channel. We asked his followers to submit their ideas for the gaming device to the Fridge Raiders Facebook page.

The response was incredible; over 15,000 ideas submitted across Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We responded by sending back blueprints of the best ideas, which were made into prototypes to be tested by Syndicate Project. Fans were kept up to date with Facebook updates, Tweets and videos on YouTube. After weeks of product development, the final working prototype was delivered to Syndicate Project by Royal Marines. He then ‘unboxed’ the device online to his millions of fans.”

Continue reading at Canneslions.com

Saville has signed award-winning director Wayne Craig for commercial spot representation in North America.

Craig has just won the AMPIA award for Best Television Commercial for his epic period piece ‘The Demo.’ Helmed for energy company TransAlta, the outstanding spot takes viewers into the magical world of the Calgary stampede grounds as seen through the eyes of a young boy in 1912.

Throughout his successful career in Canada, Craig has won over 70 international awards, including a Cannes Lion, the London International Awards, the Bessie and the prestigious CLIO Award.

Craig made his first notable mark in the US by helming Tax Act’s Super Bowl commercial debut in 2012. The quirky story about a boy desperately seeking a place to relieve himself gained both national attention and praise, and was featured on Good Morning America and The Huffington Post, which rated it as one of the most popular spots during the Super Bowl broadcast.

Continue reading on Campaign Brief

The eminent German film director Werner Herzog recently starred as a sinister villain in Tom Cruise thriller Jack Reacher, reminding us he’s as adept in front of the camera as he is behind it. Now, yet another unheralded string to the film-maker’s bow has emerged: Herzog has delivered a public-safety advertisement in the US about the dangers of texting and driving.

Phone company AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign urges viewers to put down their phones until they are safely parked and off the road. Herzog’s instalment features the mother of a young boy, Xzavier, who is now paralysed after being hit by a driver who had been texting their partner with the words “I’m on my way”. She asks: “Was the text that important? That would be my question for her,” as the camera reveals her son’s debilitated condition.

Read the article at Guardian.co.uk

Director and Cameraman Dylan Goss has signed with Saville Productions for exclusive commercial directorial representation in North America. As an accomplished Director of Photography, Dylan lead photography units on repeat projects for a list of highly acclaimed feature film directors while working in collaboration with numerous Academy Award-winning and Academy-nominated cinematographers. He was recently awarded his first commercial assignment soon after joining Saville.

Dylan’s colorful background as a leading feature and commercial DP specializing in Aerial and Additional Unit Photography has taken him around the world over the past twenty-plus years to shoot in over forty countries spanning 6 continents. The road to directing was a natural evolution for Dylan, beginning with a Volvo spot entitled “Safety,” cut from additional 2nd Unit footage that Goss had shot on his own. This was subsequently followed by his first bona-fide assignment for American Airlines. Dylan’s DP work with high-tier agencies include commercial projects for global brands such as: BMW, Lexus, Dior, Chevrolet, PG&E and Cadillac, among others. His theatrical-film camera and 2nd Unit Directing credits are composed of a long list of major award-winning feature films showcasing his repeat collaborations with top talent.

Continue reading the article at LLBOnline

Ben Richardson, whose inspired lensing of Beasts of the Southern Wild earned him Best Cinematography honors at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and this year’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, has joined the directorial roster of Saville for spot representation in North America. This marks the first production company affiliation for Richardson as a filmmaker.

Richardson is no stranger to the director’s chair. He co-directed (with Daniel Bird) and shot the stop motion film Seed which earned Best Animated Short distinction at Slamdance in 2010. Richardson also helmed the short titled The Drip Machine.

Beasts of the Southern Wild represented Richardson’s coming-out party in the feature film world. Directed by Benh Zeitlin, the movie centers on a young girl named Hushpuppy who lives in a forgotten, impoverished yet fiercely independent bayou community isolated by a sprawling levee. Her imagination and sense of place and purpose at a young age enable her to deal with daily life as an adventure, until her reality is changed by a raging storm and her father’s failing heart. The drama plays like a fable, following Hushpuppy as we see the world, her reality, through her eyes, sparked by a sense of discovery. Beasts went on to earn four Oscar nominations–for Best Picture, Best Director (Zeitlin), Best Leading Actress (Quvenzhane Wallis) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Zeitlin with Lucy Alibar).

Hushpuppy’s story is cinematically captured through the richness and rawness of her southern Louisiana world. Richardson believes that cinematography is something that goes beyond just a “capture medium,” and ultimately an emotional connection is central, as filmmaking is “one of the most versatile interpreters of visual reality ever created.” By exploring the limit of the visuals, Richardson helped to create a stellar film in Beasts that resonates, inspired by capturing moments of truth that transcend into a magical realm with both subtlety and texture. Richardson observed, “When you’re creating a world that is so removed from reality, the idea of controlling it and keeping it neat seemed entirely wrong. We wanted to shy away from shiny, sparkly visuals and keep the photography grounded.” Richardson has been lauded by New York Times critic A.O. Scott to have found “rugged, ragged beauty in nearly every shot.”

Continue reading news article here

Saville has signed director Olivier Megaton for commercial representation within the North American territory. Olivier is best known for directing major Hollywood action films including Transporter 3 starring Jason Statham, the Zoe Saldana assassin movie Colombiana, and the Liam Neeson-fronted hit sequel, Taken 2. Taken 2 grossed over $350 million worldwide against a budget of just $45 million.

Continue reading the article here.

Saville Productions has signed filmmaker Gavin O’Connor (Warrior, Miracle, Pride and Glory) for exclusive commercial representation in North America.

O’Connor wrote and directed the critically acclaimed drama film Warrior, a powerful and gripping portrayal of a story between two estranged brothers (Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton) and the fight of their lives. Warrior earned Nick Nolte an Academy Award nomination last year for Best Supporting Actor.

O’Connor first garnered attention when he directed and co-wrote the drama feature Tumbleweeds, starring Janet McTeer and Kimberly Brown. O’Connor won the Filmmaker’s Award at the film’s premiere at Sundance Film Festival. The mother-daughter road drama went on to earn widespread critical acclaim. In addition, McTeer earned several Best Actress honors for her performance, including Oscar and Independent Spirit Award nominations and a Golden Globe Award, while Brown won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actress.

O’Connor recently directed the new television series The Americans, an espionage period-drama about two undercover Russian KGB spies raising a family in America in 1981. The original series stars Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, and is now showing on FX.

Read the article on Shootonline.

The Warrior helmer Gavin O’Connor has been tapped to direct FX’s Cold War period drama pilot The Americans. The project, created/executive produced by Joe Weisberg (Falling Skies) and executive produced by Justified showrunner Graham Yost, centers on two KGB spies posing as Americans in suburban Washington, DC in the early 1980s. Weisberg, a former CIA officer-turned-novelist-turned-TV writer, Yost and DreamWorks TV’s Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey are executive producing for Fox TV Studios and FX Prods. CAA-repped O’Connor’s latest feature, Warrior has been garnering accolades for co-star Nick Nolte, including an Oscar nomination.

Continue reading at Deadline Hollywood.

Giants ahoy! Director Bryan Singer (X-Men, Superman Returns, Valkyrie) adds an exciting modern slant to the classic fairy tale in which the long-standing peace between men and giants is threatened, as a young farmer leads an expedition into the giants’ kingdom in hopes of rescuing a kidnapped princess. Jack the Giant Slayer is scheduled to be released on March 1, 2013 in 2D and 3D.

Watch the Official Trailer here.