Third Street Mining Digs Watson-Wood

Third Street Mining Signs Director Christopher Watson-Wood

Director Christopher Watson-Wood lands at Third Street Mining Co. in the US.

The L.A.-based production company Third Street Mining Company (3MC) has added Director Christopher Watson-Wood to its roster.  This is the first US production company deal for the director, and it comes fresh on the heels of his Fireflies Gold win at Cannes. 
 
Coming from an extensive visual effects background, highly sought-after Watson-Wood is currently repped as a director in the UK by Black Jack Films and has worked at such top UK post-production houses as Palma Pictures, Prime Focus, Rushes and Peerless Camera Company.  His eye for visual effects can be seen in his 2011 Firefly Gold-winning short "Motherless Child," which was entered in the Framepool/Little Black Book Fireflies Challenge. Watson-Wood's other recent short-form work includes the PSA "Jeans" for The Partnership of Drug Free America. To view "Motherless Child," click here.
 
Says 3MC Executive Producer John LaChapelle, "In our business, and in this climate particularly, when you are looking for directors to come on board, it breaks down into two categories.  You want an A-list talent, who bills-that's the easy one.  And the other, far more exciting and challenging, is to find brand new talent who's on the cusp of breaking, and Christopher is that guy for us. We're very pleased that we got to him first, and his short that won the Fireflies Gold at Cannes is a phenomenal piece of work."

A chimp panhandles in Watson-Wood's "Motherless Child" short.

Says Watson-Wood, "I'm excited to be a part of this genuine, fresh production company.  I know that the family-like environment will be a great fit and I'm looking forward to getting started."
 
Watson-Wood's experience and expertise in VFX has shaped his directorial style. His background in post production has given him an understanding of every aspect of the process, again, exemplified in "Jeans" for The Partnership for a Drug Free America, on which he composed music, shot, lit and created 3D effects. 
 
Watson-Wood's knack for capturing affecting moments was demonstrated in "Motherless Child."  The three-minute short explores the contest's theme of "compassion" by showing animals foraging for food in an urban setting or panhandling on city streets, to make the point about the increased destruction of their habitats. .He short uses images pulled directly from Framepool's stock photography database.
 
Watson-Wood studied visual effects at the London College of Communication, University of the Arts, and was offered a job upon graduation with post-production house Peerless Camera Company in London.  He's worked on several major films, including the Academy Award-nominated "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," directed by Terry Gilliam, and also served as visual effects supervisor on the upcoming thriller, "The Wicker Tree," starring Christopher Lee and directed by Robin Hardy.  He signed on with Black Jack Films in October 2010.

Published 2 Aug., 2011