SMUGGLER

“The acclaimed filmmaker C Prinz and actor, musician, and writer Jeremy Pope first connected during the pandemic. Four years later, in 2024, their conversations about queer sexuality, race, spirituality, and gender at that time have coalesced in the form of a thought-provoking short film, titled God Is Good, which arrives in the wake of Pope’s debut EP, LAST NAME: POPE. On Friday (October 11), that film was screened at Tate Modern’s Starr Cinema, in an event presented by SMUGGLER.”

“The awards ceremony on October 10 capped three days of CICLOPE in Berlin, marked by talks by notable speakers, collaborative Craft Sessions, and attendees making global connections.”

“Olivia Colman, Little Simz, Cole Palmer and more star in a series of entertaining shorts directed by New York-based duo rubberband. Each of the seven campaign stars appears in their own short film. These take place everywhere from London, where the debut brand campaign under current CCO Daniel Lee was set, to pastoral landscapes across Britain, nodding to the brand’s heritage.”

“Apple is touting the filmmaking capabilities of its iPhone 16 Pro with “Capture,” a short film directed by Aoife McArdle, which salutes classic cinematic tropes with real stunts and effects demonstrating the iPhone 16 Pro’s ability to shoot Hollywood-quality video.”

“Lionel Messi is kicking off a new foray into Hollywood. The global soccer superstar, who currently plays for Major League Soccer’s Inter Miami CF and the Argentina national team, has formed 525 Rosario, a content company that will develop and produce premium TV, film, live sports and community events. It also will produce branded content and commercials for athletes worldwide, including Messi. 525 Rosario is a joint venture between Messi and SMUGGLER Entertainment.”

“Longing to create a visual narrative to accompany the themes of his debut EP, “LAST NAME: POPE,” actor-musician Jeremy Pope reached out to SMUGGLER director C Prinz in the midst of the pandemic. Fostering an almost instant synergy, the pair spent three years discussing everything from the church experience to the Black experience, queerness to the overall anxieties pervading our society. In their 20-minute short film “God is Good” they showcase his journey to self-acceptance as a Black queer man. Pope and Prinz tell Yaya Azariah Clarke about the process behind creating their visual universe and the sense of freedom they hope it might bring to others.”

“Intended to shock, which it does with incredible precision, The Fawn is a powerful and impactful film from directing team rubberband., telling an important truth about hunting regulation through stark and painful means. Conceived and created by SMUGGLER in partnership with New York-based agency American Haiku and Austin-based agency Preacher, the campaign brings forward the message of United Sense of America, a bi-partisan coalition of all Americans dedicated to turning common sense and common ground into public policy.”

“’Never Just a Period,’ created by Essity’s longtime agency AMV BBDO and directed by Lucy Forbes, aims to start an open conversation about the dissonance between what women are taught to expect and the reality of their experiences around menstruation. The film uses a mix of comedy and hyperbolic visuals to depict women’s experiences and emotions that are often ignored or dismissed.”

“Created by TBWA/Media Arts Lab and directed by Ivan Zacharias, the two-minute film is like a scene from “The Birds” (1963), featuring a fantastical, dystopian depiction of bird-like surveillance cameras chasing and attacking people in a quest to observe their browsing data. The flock grows with each surveillance camera and the tracking becomes eerily unnerving, until iPhone users begin using Safari for privacy protection.”