Zhang + Knight’s short film A BEAR REMEMBERS came home from it’s North American premiere at the Aspen Shortfest with fresh accolades, winning the Jury Prize for Drama. In the 20-minute fiction film, a mysterious metallic sound emanates from the hills and haunts a rural village, leading a lonely boy and an elderly woman on a journey to uncover its source.
The film World Premiered at the Clermont International Short Film Festival.
Watch the trailer above.
Serial Pictures’ new documentary, BILLY IDOL SHOULD BE DEAD, will World Premiere at Tribeca. The film follows Punk legend turned pop sensation Billy Idol as he bares it all in this electrifying documentary, revealing his rise to fame, battle with addiction and triumphant comeback that captivated millions of fans worldwide.
Serial Pictures Founder and EP Violaine Etienne produces with Jonas Åkerlund directing and producing. Also producing are Live Nation’s Ryan Kroft along with Orian Williams, Laurence Freedman, Mark Monroe, and China Chow.
And after the movie will be an intimate performance by Billy Idol.
We are excited to share that Los Angeles-based director Elizabeth Orne has joined Serial Pictures for commercial and branded entertainment representation in the US and UK. Orne is known for her dry, character-based comedy and her ability to bring humor to the mundane through magical realism. Her eye for compositions, cinematic color palette, and vibrant craft brings a unique artistry to the off-the-cuff, comedic stories she tells.
She has brought her mastery at capturing effortless performances to charming, irreverent storytelling for global brands including Amazon, Hulu, LinkedIn, Meta, PayPal, DreamWorks, Disney, Comcast, Dove, Coors, Cricket, WW, and many others.
VIEW HER REEL and read more at shots and LBB.
We are thrilled to announce Iranian-American writer and director Abteen Bagheri has joined Serial Pictures for commercial, branded entertainment and music film representation in the US and UK. Bagheri works internationally across commercial and music films, narrative fiction and documentary, pushing the realms of reality with his playful approach and deeply human cinematic poetry as he arrives at a complex tone blurring the lines between realism and the bizarre, comedy and drama.
A rising influence in the industry, Bagheri has developed a prolific body of commercial work with brands such as Google, Apple, Mercedes Benz, Samsung, Nike, Smirnoff, Adobe, Lexus and many more.
“Abteen embodies raw cinematic talent with his unique creative writing, sharp eye for casting and humorous allegorical world building. He has the uncanny ability to find poetry in the mundane as he portrays the nuances of human behavior through their endearing traits, insecurities and remarkable strengths,” says Serial Pictures Founder Violaine Etienne. “We are thrilled to welcome him to Serial Pictures and to support the ongoing evolution of his career.”
View his reel and watch a mashup of his work below.
“Honestly, this is a match made in heaven,” says Bagheri. “I’ve respected Serial’s roster for a long time and admire Violaine’s visionary leadership. Together, I know we can create lasting, boundary-pushing work. I can’t wait.”
Production company Serial Pictures has announced the extension of its longtime collaboration with Anonymous Content into the UK and Amsterdam markets. Effective immediately, Serial Pictures will continue representing industry-leading directors such as: Bradford Young, John Hillcoat, Daniel Askill, BRTHR, Alejandro Landes Echavarría, Fabien Baron, Paolo Sorrentino, Moses Sumney, and Scott Frank for commercials and music videos in the UK and Amsterdam through their UK banner in partnership with Anonymous Content.
“It is a natural progression for Serial Pictures to grow its brand to the UK and Amsterdam as we celebrate 16 years of partnership with Anonymous Content,” says Serial Pictures Founder and Executive Producer Violaine Etienne. “I am thrilled to continue to expand our reach with a more significant market presence in territories known for their boundless creativity.”
View the Serial Pictures UK roster: serialpictures.com/directors-uk/
“Serial Pictures has a long history of representing world-class directors,’’ says Anonymous Content UK managing director and executive producer Tor Fitzwilliams. “We are excited to support them in their work with UK and Dutch agencies, brands and music videos.”
Director, singer-songwriter and actor Moses Sumney has joined Serial Pictures for commercials, branded entertainment and music video representation. While Sumney’s work defies expectation, genre and categorization, a consistent theme across his creative explorations in the worlds of film and music is his assertion that the undefinable still exists and dwelling in it is an act of resistance.
Akin to his upbringing between Southern California and Ghana, his work migrates seamlessly through genre and disciplines. He has directed many of his own music videos, as well as for artists and designers like Thom Browne and magazine platform i-D.
His latest release, the self-directed music video for his new single “Vintage”, bears the hallmarks of his past directorial work – the auteurial lushness of his 2021 live concert film Blackalachia, where he showcased his mastery of cinematic spectacle with angular choreography and songs performed acrobatically mid-air; and the comedic surrealism of “Cut Me,” and the kinetic physicality of “Virile” (a standout from his second album græ).
In close collaboration with Moses and cinematographer Marcell Rév (Euphoria, Malcolm & Marie, Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers”), Kodak supported the music video with a yet-to-be-released and never-before-used motion picture stock, which is similar to a beloved professional still photography film.
Watch “Vintage” and visit his reel: https://www.serialpictures.com/moses-sumney/
We are thrilled to announce filmmaker and Grammy award-winning music producer D. Smith has joined Serial Pictures for commercials, branded entertainment and music video representation in North America. A multitalented voice with an unparalleled, fresh perspective, she is well known for her critically acclaimed, award-winning and wildly entertaining directorial debut, KOKOMO CITY, in which she fearlessly shines a bright, incisive, and unfiltered light on four Black transgender sex workers in Atlanta and New York City.
“D. Smith is a force. She possesses a sharp and unique eye and a distinctive point of view. Her approach to filmmaking is both powerful and vulnerable,” says Serial Pictures Founding Partner Violaine Etienne. “She is creating fearless, trailblazing work with visual poetry while compelling us to re-evaluate social constraints through her dynamic and bluntly honest voice. We are so excited to support the next chapter of her career.”
“I’m so excited to be repped by Serial Pictures and can already feel the possibilities!” says Smith. “I am thrilled to be expanding my craft to commercials and music videos and to tell stories that are distilled to their essence to move us and make us smile within these short formats.”
After a theatrical run last summer, KOKOMO CITY is now available to stream on Paramount+ and Showtime. Watch the trailer below.
Director and choreographer Jon Boogz won an Emmy for Outstanding Choreography For Scripted Programming for his work on Starz’s “Blindspotting” at the Creative Arts Emmys.
Boogz won for his choreography and movement art for season 2, episode 3’s powerful dream dance sequence in which as Boogz explains, was created for a scene when seven-year-old character Sean uses the N word for the first time, and his parents try their best to explain the complexities of that word and why he shouldn’t use it.
“I love the fact that we’re using Black street dances in vernacular to tell that story. To me, that’s what gives it the magic,” he previously explained to the Los Angeles Times. “Even though it’s traumatic with our history as African Americans in America, I love that we’re telling this historical story using something that’s magical, that comes from our environments and our communities, which is street dance. That’s why the vernacular and style of movement is very specific, because I wanted to honor the Black and brown communities that created these dances that have changed the world.”
“This is history for STREET DANCE CULTURE,” he exclaimed on Instagram.
Directing duo Zhang + Knight have been named finalists for The One Club’s Young Guns 21 Awards.
Known for their uniquely dreamy pieces and youthful aesthetic, Zhang + Knight are joined by their love of film and desire to create work that resonates with the female, LGBTQ+ and and non-white communities.
Before they began their edgy, distinctive partnership, Zhang wanted to be a painter, while Knight wanted to be an opera singer. After meeting at 18 in university, they began developing their striking visuals and poetic storytelling. Colour, light and emotion drive their work, as can be seen in their creations for clients such as Mercedes, Lydia Trading and Maserati, for platforms including Vogue and Dazed, and artists like Arlo Parks and London Grammar.
Founded in 1996 as a showcase of emerging creative talent, Young Guns is a portfolio-based competition for creative professionals 30 years of age or under has grown to become one of the most coveted accolades in the global creative community.