Prettybird excels at nurturing directors, from emerging talent to Oscar winners

Prettybird enjoyed a rare experience last March, when it saw Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert—aka Daniels, whom the company reps for commercial work—win seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, for their film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here “Having started with a $10,000 music video budget to now being an Oscar-winning duo, the Daniels are the success story we believe every director on our roster can emulate,” Prettybird said in its A-List entry. Truth be told, Prettybird does a lot of its most important work far from the limelight, consistently taking chances on unproven talent and supporting new voices in the industry. One such talent who really hit his stride in 2023 was Calmatic, who produced spots for Mailchimp, Frito-Lay’s Flamin’ Hot and BetMGM while also releasing his first (“House Party”) and second (“White Men Can’t Jump”) feature films—all in the same year. In addition, Calmatic’s “Love, Your Mind” for The Ad Council was a creative high point among PSAs last year. Another director who came up with Prettybird, Melina Matsoukas, directed the stylish and evocative “Precious Cargo” spot for Levi’s early in 2023. Matsoukas has started her own production company, dela revolución, which co-produced the Levi’s work with Prettybird. Prettybird points to Matsoukas as an example of its ethos in action, having helped her find her voice and her confidence through the years—and supporting her still as she builds her own company. Other top spots from Prettybird directors in 2023 included Max Malkin’s “The Original Impossible” for Adidas; Tom Noakes’ “Trade In” and François Rousselet’s “Hello Yellow,” both for Apple; Tim & Eric’s “The Crust the World Craves” for Little Caesars; and Bryce Dallas Howard and Steven Caple Jr.’s Christmas films (“The Note” and “Ho Ho Heist”) for Coca-Cola. Also, Bradley & Pablo led a global rebranding campaign for Fossil and directed one of the year’s most-watched music videos, with Jung Kook’s “Seven” racking up over 100 million views in 10 days (it now has more than 350 million views). The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought challenges but also opportunities. Prettybird Co-Founder Paul Hunter, who saw pre-production on his Apple TV+ series “Government Cheese” delayed, used the time to co-direct projects with Joy Kilpatrick and Quinn Katherman. On a tragic note, Prettybird shared the loss with Division of their promising young director, Valentin Petit, who died in a small plane crash in May. Ad Age A-List and Creativity Gala Buy your ticket to the in-person event Click here Prettybird’s sister company Ventureland also had success in branded projects and beyond. Its work included an interactive web AR experience for Nissan that transported virtual renditions of Nissan vehicles into the viewer’s home, office or any other real-world environment. Beyond advertising, Ventureland also released four films and four series in 2023, in addition to setting a first-look partnership for documentary projects with A24. Other Prettybird directors also created branded entertainment, TV series and short films through Ventureland’s production branches. Nisha Ganatra created a short documentary for Stacy’s Pita Chips in collaboration with Hello Sunshine. Academy Award-winning filmmaker Rayka Zehtabchi worked with Meta on the branded film “They Came From All Over.” And Tiller Russell released two Netflix series, “Waco: American Apocalypse” and “American Manhunt: The Boston Marathon Bombing.” As Prettybird continues its now 15-year journey, few production companies can claim the same level of support for emerging talent. As the Daniels said in a statement: “They’ve helped us find collaborators or navigate the chaos of films they weren’t even producing. They’ve supported our nonprofit endeavors. ... They were patient and supportive in the years when we didn’t make them much money. And the team of creatives they choose to nurture is an inspiring, diverse crew of artists that we’ve been humbled to sit alongside, bump into and lean on for advice. Long live Prettybird!” See all of Ad Age’s 2024 Agency A-List winners here

Prettybird excels at nurturing directors, from emerging talent to Oscar winners

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