New Talent at Wilfrid Park, Bandito Bros., Savant and Lost Highway

Four production houses in North America have signed new director deals, two of which will introduce top international talents to the US and Canadian markets.

Award-winning South African director Cindy Lee has signed with Toronto’s Wilfrid Park for Canadian representation.  She came to directing out of the agency side of the business, where she was a copywriter at TBWA Hunt Lascaris, working under John Hunt.  Her work there numerous Lions in Cannes, as well as awards at festivals in New York and London, in addition to top South African advertising prize, the Loerie Grand Prix. She spent a dozen years on the agency side before shifting her focus to filmmaking, initially working on a sitcom, a documentary and a feature film before starting to direct commercials.  Her work has gained a major following in South Africa, where he cheeky and arresting spots for Nando’s restaurants—such as “Happy Cop,” “Race Card” and the outrageous “Chips” —have earned her big-time media attention. She directs in South Africa for Fresh Eye Film Productions.
 
Gentlemen, the directing duo comprised of Brett Snider and Billy Federighi, has signed with L.A.-based Bandito Brothers for exclusive US spot representation. The directors are already helming their first assignment for the company: a Kraft Lunchables projects via Draft FCB Chicago. The team entered the spot-making arena two years ago, after winning consumer-generated ad contests for Doritos and Converse. Their Doritos spot, "Mousetrap," aired during the Super Bowl XLII broadcast and was ranked # 4 on the USA Today Ad-Meter. Gentlemen has since directed projects for Kellogg's out of Leo Burnett, Cici's Pizza out of Deutsch and Hormel out of BBDO. The duo comes over from Über Content.

Italian directing duo Borgato & Berte has signed with Hollywood-based Savant Film for exclusive US spot representation. Comprised of Paolo Borgato and Tommaso Berte, the team is known for visually arresting spots, most notably the Freddy "Human Machine" spot, which was part of the 2007 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase. The announcement was made by Savant Executive Producer Jamie Miller, who runs the company with fellow EP Joby Barnhart. "The work of Borgato & Berte has such a distinct and inventive flavor, and we look forward to getting their names out in the US market,” says Miller.  Savant Film is the first stateside spot roost for the directors, who have a diverse history in filmmaking. Borgato spent ten years as a production manager, editor, and first assistant director on feature films. Berte attended film school in France before returning to his native Italy to work as a producer. The pair met while producing commercials in Milan in 2004, and soon began collaborating behind the camera.

Aggressive, the directing duo of Alex Topaller and Dan Shapiro, winners of the 2008 Latin Grammy Award for Best Music Video, have signed with New York-based Lost Highway Films for exclusive representation in commercials.  Although this marks the first time that the multi-talented pair have marketed themselves specifically as commercial directors, they have a number of advertising projects to their credit, including work for Kyocera and AT&T, as well as a series of web videos for Subway.  The announcement was made by Lost Highway Executive Producer Marc Rosenberg.  While new to the ad scene, Aggressive is an established directing team in the music video arena. With a mix of live action, visual effects, animation and design, their work includes clips for such artists as Megadeth, Bloc Party, Kerli and Black Label Society.  They won the Latin Grammy last November for their video Me Enamora by the Colombian rock star Juanes.