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Biography

Turning his back on a promising career as a shelf stacker at 7eleven, Steve Reeves enrolled at Watford College where he trained as a copywriter, landing a job at DDB London where he worked on accounts for Volkswagen, Miller Lite, Fosters, PG Tips and the Labor Party. After several award winning years with the agency, he branched out into directing in 1995.

In 2001 Steve set up Another Film Company with Gorgeous co-founder, Tim Marshall.

His Commercial credits include BA, MasterCard, Sony, Nokia, Royal Navy, One2one, BT, Diet Coke and the now infamous Agent Provocateur spot featuring Kylie which won the BTAA Best Cinema Commercial and is most watched viral film ever with 360 million viewings (Campaign magazine). His numerous awards include D&AD, BTAA & Creative Circle.

Biography

After abjectly failing at the Scottish grammar school, Jeff Stark stumbled into advertising as Assistant Advertising Manager at Curry’s. Going on to work as a copywriter in a series of small agencies he was soon spotted by newly formed Saatchi & Saatchi in 1976 and after six years of award winning work he left to form the Hedger Mitchell Stark agency. Two hugely successful years later he sold the agency to Saatchi & Saatchi and returned as Creative Director.

Following another three years at Saatchis in London and New York, Jeff retired from advertising altogether to fulfill his lifelong ambition of sailing his small yacht around the world. Half way around, in Tonga, he got bored and promptly retired from sailing, returning to London in 1990 to fulfill his other lifelong ambition of directing commercials. Forming Stark Films in 1991 he quickly went on to win awards for work with British Airways, RSPCA, Walls, Impulse and Adidas and established himself as one of the UKs most respected directors.

His first tentative move outside the advertising arena, the short film Desserts starring Ewan McGregor, wasn’t so tentatively received and was selected for the Sundance Film Festival as well as winning Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Jeff Stark has been with Another Film Company since early 2006.

Biography

After Graduating from St. Martins Stephen spent the next fourteen years working as an Art Director in London’s top advertising agencies. Working on accounts including The Economist, BMW, McDonalds, Cadburys, Renault and the British Army. During this time he won awards at The New York Festivals, Creative Circle and Cannes.

In 2002 Stephen started writing short films and sitcoms. His short comedy film White Bits was snapped up by HBO Film Distributors and won at the 2003 Italian Film Festival.

During 2003 Stephen started directing whilst still working at Publicis. In 2004 he was signed to direct full time with Another Film Company. In his first year he was nominated at the BTAA craft awards as Best New Director.

Since then his quickly and very British performance based comedy has earned him a Gold shark, four D&AD nominations and a pencil, as well as an arrow at BTAA for best casting and “Best Viral” at Midsummer Awards. He has worked with Mother, AMV, TBWA and Publicis on brands such as Mars, FRANK drug awareness, the British Army, O2 and Give Blood.

Biography

Nick started in Television, Directing over 35 hours of diverse material from Documentaries to Dramas, and working with names such as Frank Skinner, Lily Savage, Ruby Wax and Ben Elton amongst others. He ended up focusing on his true love – comedy, and has directed over 15 hours of broadcast comedy including sketch shows and specials.

Along the way Nick developed his distinctive style and his keen eye for casting and working with actors, discovering and giving the first TV breaks to: Simon Pegg Shaun of the Dead, Mackenzie Crook Pirates of the Carribean, Sanjeev Bhaskar The Kumars, Amanda Holden and Jessiva Stephenson and most of the cast of The Office – Martin Freeman, Olivia Coleman and Matt Holness. Nick even introduced Ricky Gervais to the BBC prior to The Office. Nick discovered Mitchell & Webb and put them in a sketch series for BBC2 called Bruiser.

Nick Directed and co-wrote much of the material involved, so he knows exactly where the gag lies, and how not to tread on it or spot it. He has a keen eye for the look and style of comedy and a natural feel for how best stage things to get the appropriate laughs.

Nick has built on his success with an incredible run of spots for clients including Fiat, Kodak, McDonalds, Citroen, Muller, Polaroid, Tango, Burger King, Playstation, Mini and 118 118 Choir – which was in the APA 50 2006 and was voted Number 1 Viral 2006 by Campaign magazine.

Biography

The origins of Blac Ionica began with the meeting of three minds schooled in three different areas of thought, Motion Graphics, Animation and Engineering. As such Blac Ionica is Comprised of 3 multidisciplinary film directors who pride themselves on their adaptability and eccentricity within the creative realm.

Their innovative and diverse style incorporates everything from Stop Motion Animation to Motion Graphics, CGI and Live Action. They also produce their own Music and Sound Design.

As well as being short listed for the Rushes Soho Shorts Festival on several occasions, their work has also appeared in onedotzero, Shorts, Stash, Boards, The Guardian, Contagious, Campaign, and their AR Innovation Award at the 2009 UK Music Video Awards.

Biography

Rory obtained a degree in Fine Art from Kingston University, London.

His career in the film industry began with a stint as a runner on pop promos, gaining valuable experience on set with artists such as Paul Weller, Blur and U2. Rory soon landed a permanent job in production at the legendary Tony Kaye Films; working on high profile, big budget commercials for international clients. Rory quickly progressed up the food chain, learning the ropes as Production Assistant, Production Manager, eventually rising to Producer. Rory produced a huge variety of commercials and promos alongside Tony Kaye himself as well as other more leftfield directors including Damian Hirst and Ellen Von Unworth.

Not satisfied with his successes as a producer and, coupled with a brilliant offer to be Tony Kaye’s directorial assistant on both commercials and feature films, Rory’s career took an interesting turn. Working closely with Tony, Rory cast, researched and collaborated on some Kaye’s most prolific and award-winning work. From scouring the Mid-West of America for storm-chasers to interviewing Leni Riefenstahl and working on early development and research for the critically acclaimed American History X, every task and job had its own very specific and extraordinary challenge. Working alongside Tony gave Rory a thorough knowledge of the highest production values as well as the confidence and conviction to go it alone. He shot his first commercial in 1999 for The Face magazine too much critical acclaim; winning first prize at the celebrated Saatchi New Director’s Showcase in Cannes, securing his future as a young director to watch.

Rory’s huge slate of successful and high profile commercials work has since included ads for both British and international clients including Agent Provocateur, Irn-Bru, Marmite, Yahoo!, Tennents Lager, Ribena, Kelloggs and Smirnoff. He has worked on major campaigns with A-list talent including Sharon Osbourne, Jonny Knoxville and Dita von Teese and collected numerous advertising accolades from bodies including the British Television Awards, the Roses, the Advertising Producers’ Association APA50 and Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival as well as making it into a number of prestigious D&AD Annuals.

Alongside his work in commercials, Rory has also begun writing and directing comedic short films. His latest, ‘The Magic’, was screened at a number of festivals around the world, winning the audience award at European Independent Film Awards, a Cannes ‘08 selection and ‘Best Comedic Short’, “Best Script’ and ‘Best Overall Short Film at The LA HD Festival.

Biography

Babanuki are two chaps who met while studying at film school. When working individually they usually ended up knocking on each others doors for help, so the two decided to pool their talents and start making things for people. And so far, their two for one offer seems to be ticking all the right boxes.

They kick started the venue with music videos for friends (and friends of friends) and then a series of band visuals for Keane. It wasn’t long until they had built up enough work to land a promo for Katie Melua and two videos for the Mercury-nominated singer songwriter, Laura Marling.

In the meantime, they worked on their advertising chops, creating a road safety test commercial that was screened in Cannes as a short listed piece for the CFP-E/ Shots Young Directors Award. They also shot on the tunnels of London’s underground for TFL and Keane approached then to create two adverts for their second album, Under the Iron Sea.
The work so far shows their flexibility in their working methods and shared enjoyment in experimentation, moving from an in-camera approach, to post heavy techniques and back again.

However, they aren’t very good at explaining the name, which was possibly not a wise choice as they have to explain how to pronounce it all the time.

Ba - Ba – nu – key, if it helps.

Biography

At the age of 18, Jonathan Lovekin's father gave him his first camera, a Voigtlander. He subsequently embarked upon a photographic course at the Kent Institute of Art and Design, from which he graduated in 1988.

He moved to London and secured the position of assistant to Advertising photographer Richard Mummery before moving on to assist John Wallace, working on a variety of advertising campaigns from Benson + Hedges to Vauxhall.

At the age of 22 Jonathan set up as a photographer on his own and began shooting editorial work for 'World of Interiors' and 'Elle Deco'. It was this work that first caught the eye of Nigel Slater, and prompted him to ask Jonathan to collaborate for the food pages of 'Marie Claire'. This soon led to him becoming established as a much sought after food photographer.

In the last decade, the relationship with Slater has seen Jonathan's photography dominate the food pages of both the weekly Observer Magazine and the specialist Food Monthly. Jonathan's photograph's have illustrated many of Slater's books including ‘Appetite’ and 'Real Food' - for which he won the prestigious Glenfiddich award – as well as the bestseller 'The Kitchen Diaries'. His latest collaboration with Nigel Slater is the recently published ‘Tender’.

Jonathan also photographed Angela Hartnett's new book: 'My Family and Other Recipes'. He has worked with Nathalie Hambro for Vogue, and the infamous Martha Stewart on her 'Baking Handbook' and recently won a 2nd Glenfiddich award for his work on 'Feasts'. He has also won the much coveted Association of Photographer's award. He has enjoyed success with his press campaigns for Marks + Spencer (RKCR/Y&R) Flora (Krow) Carnation (Publicis) and Sainsbury's (AMV) to name a few.

In 2006 Jonathan teamed up with producer Adam Saward and started directing TV commercials. He has now established himself as one of the leading tabletop directors in Europe with a showreel to prove it. He has shot commercials for leading companies such as Sainsbury’s as well as for major international brands such as Bertolli, Bird’s Eye and Tropicana. He lives in London and is represented there by Another Film Company.

Biography

Marthas directorial debut was Gordon Ramsays The F Word and Ramsays Kitchen Nightmares, for which she won a BAFTA. She has continued to work with Gordon Ramsay and recently followed him on a gastronomic adventure around India in Gordons Great Escape.

Although she has unrivalled experience in making food programmes working with Nigel Slater, Sophie Dahl, Jamie Oliver and Angela Hartnett – she has also directed documentaries on subjects as varies as fashion, marriage and homelessness.

One of her sills is her ability to connect with presenters and contributors alike, quickly gaining their trust and confidence. She is as happy working with non-actors as actors and always delivers relaxed, honest and intimate performances. Her entertaining films have a reputation for great story telling, a lightness of touch and for their spontaneous magic moments.

In 2006 she broke into commercials directing Jamie Oliver in Sainsburys Feed Your Family for a Fiver campaign. Since then she has combined a successful TV career with commercials; working with AMV, BBH and Isabel on brands such as Sainsbruys, KFC and Werthers Originals.

She has recently created a beautiful new food series for BBC2 starring Sophie Dahl “The Delicious Miss Dahl”.

Biography

Barbie is a BAFTA nominated director with unrivalled experience in making travel documentaries. She is known for her ability to capture the real essence of a place and its people, and for the stunning visuals that make her programmes so unmissable.

She has shot extensively in Asia, North and South America and Africa, and it would probably be easier to list the countries in Europe in which she hasn’t shot.

She has worked with many Celebrities, the most recent being: Sanjeev Bhaskar (Final Chance to Save the Tigers), Paul Merton (Paul Merton in China) and Martin Clunes (Islands of Britain).
Whilst she is renowned for her stunning High Definition visuals, Barbie also has a very definite talent for producing and directing domestic documentaries across a broad range of subjects and capturing engaging performances from people who are not used to appearing on camera.

Biography

Born in Northumberland, a country boy.

Went to college in Newcastle to do a BTEC in design, left and moved to London at 18 to work in an Ad agency doing visuals and storyboards……spurred me on to go to St. Martins to do Graphic Design Degree. The openness of the course meant that I naturally drifted towards film and resulted in having a short 5-minute piece (developed in my bath at home, I moved out soon afterwards) being shown at the London Film Festival.

While at college I got involved in a clothing label with some friends called Silas. The label enjoyed success here and in Japan, yet managed to remain underground. Graphics and design for the label was fun, it was a good scene surrounded by some very creative people, and kept me alive until a producer saw my film. He asked if I wanted to make commercials. I said yes. And moved to Glasgow where I suddenly became very busy.

Was fortunate enough to work on the best scripts coming out of Scotland, such as Tennents Lager and IRN-BRU. And enjoyed everything else Glasgow had to offer….its a fun city. I made some very good friendships and worked with some great creatives.

Moved back to London 3 years ago. Had a kid. Moved to Brighton. Moved to Another. The rest isn’t history yet.

Biography

Having graduated from film school in Dublin, Damien wrote and directed his first short film THIRTY FIVE ASIDE for which he won numerous awards including The Royal Television Societys Best Newcomer. He followed this with his first feature film EAST is EAST for which he won a BAFTA for Best British Film as well as the European Prix Media Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

He has since directed two other feature films, HEARTLANDS featuring Michael Sheene and INSIDE I AM DANCING with James McAvoy.

Whilst his commercials showreel reflects that he is in great demand as a comedy director, it also illustrates why his talent for casting and for delivering superb performances has allowed him to diversity into other genres. He has now established himself as one of Irelands foremost directors of commercials, winning awards for Heineken, Magners, Tennents and Irn Bru amongst others.