Given the filmmaking and storytelling talents that abound in the ad industry, it’s no surprise that some of them also regularly end up on the Academy Award nomination and winners lists.
Last year, for example, Hungry Man co-founder and director Bryan Buckley nabbed a nomination for his short film “Saria,” while fellow Hungry Man helmer Taika Waititi earned Best Screenplay and Best Picture nominations for “JoJo Rabbit,’” ultimately winning the prize for the former. Editors Kirk Baxter, founder of editorial company Exile, and Angus Wall, founder and owner of Rock Paper Scissors Group, earned Oscars for their work cutting David Fincher’s “The Social Network” and “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” plus a nomination for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.”
Here, a look at this year’s industry players who are vying for Oscars statues this year.
The much-decorated director Fincher, who got his start in commercials and music videos and also founded commercials production company Reset, still dips into spots from time to time (he produced Anheuser-Busch’s touching “Let’s Grab a Beer” ad, directed by Adam Hashemi and created out of Wieden+Kennedy New York). He’s now leading the pack this year with 10 nominations for his Netflix film “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz. Fincher himself earned a Best Director nomination, with additional nods including Best Picture, Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Actress (Amanda Seyfried).