Jamie Lane joins The Visionaries

Hilarious and clever comedy director Jamie Lane has now joined The Visionaries for representation.

His list of clients speak for themselves, directing films for Coca Cola, Kellogg's, BMW, McDonalds, Mars, Wrigley’s, O2 and many more. 

Jamie has created a comedic niche for himself in the competitive world of commercials. His success is largely due to his talents in directing natural, fluid performances with subtle and realistic humour. 

From this he has won two Lions at Cannes for the very progressive and multi-faceted campaign created by McCann-Erickson London for Skcin.

When we sat down to speak to Jamie about joining us, he said “I’m really glad to come onboard and I’m looking forward to all the new opportunities this will bring. Lemonade represents some of the best production companies in the world. Collaborations with the likes of MPC Creative are really exciting and The Visionaries opens up so many new opportunities. I am thrilled to be a part of this progressive roster. ” 

Jamie keeps busy working shooting in different countries all over the world but we are excited he is joining The Visionaries here in London. 

You can view more of Jamie’s work here.

Borderland join The Visionaries

Borderland have joined The Visionaries for representation. The outfit, residing on Shacklewell lane, join the roster after paving an impressive launch in 2017. A versatile collective, their work is rich and varied, yet everything they shoot has an edgy feel with a highly crafted aesthetic. 

Hard to define but easy to work with, Borderland is a modern, independent creative collective. Formed by award-winning directors, Borderland draws on over 20 years’ experience at top UK agencies, working with some of the world’s biggest brands. They specialise in a creative and flexible approach to cross platform content, from story development to distribution. Their network of creative talent reaches beyond the traditional advertising arena. They are filmmakers, editors, writers, journalists, and musicians. They are unique in their blended backgrounds, from advertising to story research and development, they are creatives who make each story richer with their individual talents and life experience.

Perhaps they are best defined in their own words... 'We believe our modern approach to filmmaking is not only critical for the current market but also effective in creative integrity and craft. We are confident our unique marriage of nimble and agile teams, along with rigorous craft and attention to detail, is a winning solution for all channels, from high profile TV commercials, to longer form online campaigns, to feature length documentaries.'

You can view more of Borderland's work here.

Sye Allen Directs New Very Spot 'Shake Up'

Visionaries director Sye Allen has directed the latest TVC for Very. The new spot celebrates the spring range in vibrant fashion.

The spot earned four stars from David Reviews, you can read the full review here.

Creative Agency: St Luke's
Creative: Claire Wombell/Laura Stephens
Account Director: Sophia Lane
Account Manager: Emily Gill-Heginbotham
TV Producer: Chloe London
Film Production: Apostle
Director: Sye Allen
Director's Agent: The Visionaries
Producer: Rachel Rumbold
Editor: Sye Allen/Josh Gemmell
Post Production: Electric Theatre Collective
Sound Designer: Ben Leeves @ Jungle

James Morgan Joins The Visionaries

Esteemed documentary director James Morgan has joined The Visionaries for representation. As well as having shot pieces for Vaseline, Grant's Whiskey, Facebook and more, James has made a plethora of short and feature films, including the feature documentary film 'Jago' featured on the BBC and now on Netflix. 'Jago: A Life Underwater' tells the story of Rohani, an eighty year old Indonesian deep sea hunter who descends deep underwater for several minutes on end. James' latest film Seven, a BFI-backed drama shot up in the high Arctic, is due for release this year. 

Known for his breathtaking visuals, James is partnering with The Visionaries to produce groundbreaking cinematic work for the documentary advertising market.

You can view all of James' work here.

Martin Bennett Directs Slick New Spot for Ford Mustang

Martin Bennett has directed a new spot showing off the new Ford Mustang. The ad shows off the Mustang's 'Driving Experience' and was shot on location in the South of France at the Paul Ricard racetrack. Speaking on the spot, Martin said, 'I’m thrilled about this project as the Mustang is a truly beautiful car, it looks fast without even turning a wheel! The Mustang screams fun, so I’m super excited about working with it and bringing it to life.'

You can view the rest of Martin's work here.

Credits:

Director - Martin Bennett
Producer - Keiko Nagai
DOP - Jean-Baptiste Jay
1st AD - Jeremy Kincaid-Smith

Agency - GTB
CD - Nigel Edginton-Amor
CD - Richard Last
Agency Producer -Alison Cummins

Johnny Han Directs New Spot For World Remit

Johnny Han has directed a new spot for the online money transfer service World Remit. The spot shows a wonderfully diverse group of people coming together and building drones and Chinese lanterns before releasing them into the night sky. 

Known more for his VFX heavy work, the video shows a different side to Johnny's directing skills, highlighting a talent for interaction. The ad caps off a great end to the year for Johnny, who since joining The Visionaries in August of this year, has worked with brands such as NFL, Phillips/Star Wars and now World Remit. To see more of Johnny's work, click here.

Sye Allen Directs Bill Nighy In Heartwarming Short For Jo Cox Foundation

Sye Allen directs a Christmas story about a lonely mince pie for the Jo Cox Foundation. Narrated by the great Bill Nighy, the short, highlighting a brilliant initiative inspired by the late MP, encourages anyone who feels lonely over the Christmas period to meet up for a chat over a mince pie.

#MincePieMoments is part of a larger initiative called the Great (Christmas) Get Together that encourages people to build positive connections in their communities. This is the second spot in a row that Sye has teamed up with St Luke's for, after their 'Duty to Delight' campaign for Pol Roger last month. Watch it and more of Sye's work here.

Credits:

DIRECTOR: Sye Allen

DOP: Edward Gibbs

EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Richard Denney

COPYWRITER: Mick Brigdale

PRODUCERS: Jenny Busby and Chloe London

CREATIVE AGENCY: St. Luke’s

Sam Washington Directs New Idents For Citroën

Sam Washington has directed the first batch of idents for Citroën and Channel 4. The spots below are Citroën's ads that will sponsor the show First Dates from January onwards.

The four (out of twenty), fifteen second idents show off Sam's talent for tongue in cheek comedy and performance to camera. The spots capped off a great 2017 for Sam, having worked on previous campaigns for Benefit, Netflix, Mountain Dew and Camden Hells to name a few. Check out more of his work here.

Credits:

Creative Director - Elliot Harris

Creative Team - Joe Williams

Director - Sam Washington

Director of Photography - Paul O'Callaghan

Producer - Alex Davis

Executive Producer - Louise Hardy

Gundeep Anand Holds Anniversary Tournament For The Last Stand

Director Gundeep Anand held a commemorative tournament for his Last Stand football event on the 21st of November. This was organised and created by Gundeep as a one year anniversary for his four-a-side street football tournament that exploded onto the London scene last year. You can watch his video of the night below. 

The Last Stand celebrates the skills and talent of street football and the inclusiveness it brings, with people from four different London boroughs taking part, even attracting the likes of Everton Winger Yannick Bolasie (see below).

Gundeep's got big plans to take The Last Stand to a national stage, next up is Birmingham, as he and his team head north.

Sam Washington Directs San-Fran Glam Christmas Spot For Benefit

It's another Christmas ad! This time, it's Sam Washington's take on the festive commercial for cosmetic brand Benefit. With the pun-derful tag line 'Bring on the Winter Wonderglam!', Sam takes a smart idea and elevates it to a great ad. Some good performances combined with a great line 'There's a glamarous 70s Christmas disco party happening in my wardrobe.' makes for a memorable ad.

El Carousel's, Executive Creative Director, Charles Battrick had the following to say on the spot. 'Meshing nicely with the SanFran-Glam range, it is set to boost Benefit [sic] presence this Christmas and undoubtedly extend the fanbase of it’s [sic] cheeky personality online.'

Credits:

Agency: El Carousel

ECD: Charles Battrick
Creatives: Emma Hamilton and Sam Washington
Director: Sam Washington
Producer: Angela Battrick
DOP : Paul O’Callaghan
Editor: Colin Sumsion @ Big Buoy
Art Director: Jakob Grierse
Casting : Lesley Beastall
Composer: Rich Lewis

You can see more of Sam's work here.

Sye Allen Directs Dreamy New Spot For Pol Roger

Director Sye Allen's new spot 'A Duty To Delight' is all about capturing the nostalgia of endless summers days. Shooting for Pol Roger, Sye highlights the effervescent quality of those long summers, whilst of course drinking champagne.

Speaking on the shoot, Sye had the following to say. 'We shot it in September in the UK which is always a risk, especially on this occasion given the content of the film… But it paid off. I wanted to create a mystical atmosphere where all the elements of a perfect celebration come together, and it’s the effort we see going into this moment that really ties in with Pol Roger’s brand identity.'

Speaking on the creative process: 'It wasn’t about individual characters, it was about creating a clear character for the piece as a whole. Working closely with my cinematographer Sam Care we developed a visual language for the film, deciding to use uncoated master primes and a series of crystal diopters, which gave us loads of characterful internal reflections and allowed us to hide information when we wanted to, in a stylish & ethereal way.'

On working with the brand: 'Working with Pol Roger was a great experience, once the monitors were up each image sold itself, which was a reflection of the amount of homework we’d done prior to shoot day. We managed to achieve a great deal in a very short amount of time and even afforded ourselves a little wrap party as the sun was finally disappearing, drinking Pol Roger obviously. Mr Churchill would have been proud.'

Credits:

Producer - Elliot Tagg
Director of Photography - Sam Care
Creative - Mick Brigdale
Grade - Toby Tomkins, Online/VFX - 1920
Director and Editor - Sye Allen

You can view more of Sye's work here.

Johnny Han Directs Slick NFL Spot

Johnny Han has directed a new spot for NFL Game Pass. The new ad shows off the amazing plays that the NFL has to offer in a variety of different scenarios. You can watch the NFL anywhere thanks to Game Pass and Johnny has really emphasised this in his new spot.

Johnny brings the excitement of the game into the forefront of the ad by imposing the game on the environment around the people watching it. Demarco Murray scores a touchdown on a train, Randall Cobb catches a ball on a building and Dak Prescott gets a touchdown in the trees. You'll know what I mean when you see the ad. Johnny really demonstrates his capability of directing with VFX and it certainly makes for an interesting spot!

To view more of Johnny's work, click here.

Barry Kimber Directs Cute New Spot For Battersea

Known more for his comedy than his dog work, Barry Kimber's latest spot highlights the smiles of dogs for Battersea dogs home. The spot, titled Happiness, talks about the importance of re-homing dogs and cats from Battersea, before switching up the tone and displaying the warmth and loving that comes from a dog's smile.

This isn't Barry's first venture in shooting dogs, he's got a reel-full of stuff. This comes off the back of a recent spot Barry directed for Kronenbourg, watch below.

Take a look at Barry's dog reel here and you can read more about the Battersea ad and re-home and dog or cat here.

Dan Gianini Joins The Visionaries

Fashion, beauty and documentary director Dan Gianini joins The Visionaries for representation. The Brazilian born director works predominately in the fashion world, having shot for such companies as Topshop, Vogue and Givenchy.

Dan's now lived in the UK for the last fourteen years and studied Media Practice at Bristol UWE, where he took his graduation documentary piece 'Ambulantes' to Sheffield International Documentary Festival, Brief Encounters Festival and Diversity In Place Festival. 

Since then, Dan has worked for a variety of brands, from high street shops such as H&M and Topshop, to designer outlets including La Perla, Givenchy, Galerie Lafayette and Vogue. You can view his work here.

Sam Washington Directs Hilarious Spots For Jack Whitehall's New Netflix Series

Sam Washington has directed several comedy spots for Netflix. The spots are for the new Netflix series 'Travels With My Father', which focus on Jack Whitehall and his dad as they go on a gap year together in South East Asia. 

These new spots focus on Jack's dad Michael's naivety when it comes to the popular streaming service. His incompetence, crossed with Jack's embarrassment and Sam's sturdy direction make these spots delightful and extremely amusing. The whole series is available to watch on Netflix now and for more of Sam's work, click here.