Julie Taymor Joins Grand Large, Believe Signs Brand and More

Grand Large has signed directors Julie Taymor and Brad Furman to its roster. Ms. Taymore, who is behind the super-hit Broadways musicals "The Lion King," and "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," has also worked on feature firms like "The Tempest," "Titus" and "Frida." She's the first woman to win a directing Tony for a musical. Mr. Furman is the man behind the Matthew McConaughey-starring legal thriller "The Lincoln Lawyer," and has also worked on numerous music videos for hip-hop stars. He also directed, wrote and produced "Buried Alive in the Blues," a documentary that features B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Sam Lay and other blues greats. Production company Reset has signed sibling directing duo Twin, aka Jonathan and Josh Baker. The Australia-born brothers are known for their natural-meets-bizarre point of view, and have directed spots for HP, AT&T, Powerade, Nissan, Honda and more. Believe Media has added Colombian director Simon Brand to its roster. Brand has directed over 200 spots for brands such as Pepsi, Nabisco, Miller Brewing, Coca Cola, Coors Light, BMW, AT&T, Verizon, and Apple. He has also helmed music videos for artists such as Ricky Martin, Marc Anthony, Shakira, Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias. Feature films include "Unknown," which starred Jim Caviezel, Greg Kinnear, Barry Pepper and Joe Pantoliano, and "Paraiso Travel." The Spanish-language feature became one of top grossing films in the history of Colombia and was called one of the best Latin films of the last decade by TIME Magazine. New York and L.A.-based hybrid production and post company Humble has signed comedy writer/director Rob Pearlstein to its roster. Pearlstein's work includes a short film, "Our Time is Up," which was nominated for an Academy Award, a series of web shorts documenting the story of "Matumbo Goldberg," a young African-American man adopted by a witless suburban couple, and his first comedy feature "Someone Marry Barry." He has sold feature screenplays to Warner Brothers, Universal and Working Title, and written original pilots for networks and cable networks. Arts & Sciences has added British-born director Luke Monaghan to its roster for U.S. representation. He has worked with brands such as Nike and Adidas, as well as artists such as Disclosure, Asap Rocky, Azealia Banks, Ed Sheeran, Flatbush Zombies and others. He has just released his first short film "Ezekiel," an experimental film about the youngest preacher in the U.S., and is in post on a Nike project for the release of the new Nike Brazil soccer jersey for the 2014 World Cup. Director Claire Cottrell has joined the roster of creative studio Decon for commercial representation. Her commercial work includes spots for Apple, Oreo, Samsung and Nissan on behalf of Media Arts Lab, 360i, Digitas NY and TBWA/Chiat/Day L.A.. She is also the founder of Book Stand, an online art bookshop, and the current Los Angeles editor of international interview magazine Freunde von Freunden. Production and post house Optimus has signed editor Mike Hackett for exclusive nationwide representation. Hackett founded Lucid Editorial in 2009 after working at Los Angeles post companies including Brass Knuckles, Avenue Edit, Crush Editorial, Filmcore LA. and Chrome. He began his editorial career in Los Angeles at T-minus 30. He has worked on commercials for clients such as Ford, Honda, Toyota, Chevy and HP. Commercial animation director Rohitash Rao has joined ShadowMachine for exclusive U.S. spot representation. Rao has helmed commercial and music video projects for Crunch, Nike, Snapple, Volkswagen and The Great Big World, among others. His first assignment for ShadowMachine is a six-spot package for Verrado, a community in Phoenix known for its colorful residents, via Cecillian Worldwide. Along with his longtime writing partner Peter Nelson, Rao also created a short for the company's new Comedy Central show, "Trip Tank." Therapy Studios has appointed lead mixer Jeff Fuller to its audio division. Fuller has already worked on commercial mixes for Pepsi Max, TBS, The Honest Company, and Applebees. He will also begin mixing the first of eight episodes for a new television series, produced by Therapy Content, the entertainment division of Therapy Studios. Some of his recent work includes ads for Gatorade, Toyota, Samsung, Foster Farms, and Wild Turkey Bourbon, as well as a Lincoln sponsored interactive music video featuring Aloe Blacc, released for the 2014 Grammys.

Julie Taymor Joins Grand Large, Believe Signs Brand and More

Featured Stories