SMUGGLER

“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.”

“After becoming the official grill and bar of the NFL earlier this year, Applebee’s is featuring some of the league’s stars for its latest campaign, directed by Guy Shelmerdine. “Serving Up the NFL” from Grey New York stars 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy, Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Lions head coach Dan Campbell. The three are helping to highlight Applebee’s 50-cent boneless wings as football season begins.”

“’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.”

“Visionary SMUGGLER director Adam Berg helps HBO Unveil their new platform ‘Max’, the enhanced service replacing HBO Max. Adam Berg, known for his cinematic style, brings his exceptional talent to Max in this advertisement, transcending traditional boundaries. The ad seamlessly blends elements of drama, fantasy, and real-life moments to showcase the diverse and rich content available on the platform.”

“Few, if any, commercial directors can claim to have made three spots in 2023 that were as affecting as Tom Hooper’s long-form work for Vanish, Montefiore and Chevrolet. While quite different in their storylines and executions, the three films have a compelling common thread—lead characters for whom it’s challenging to connect with others, due to autism, cerebral palsy and Alzheimer’s, respectively. And in each case, Hooper’s deeply empathetic direction brings their stories beautifully to life.”

“While Netflix commemorates the 40th anniversary of Brest’s original with this sequel, Molloy spoke with Variety about how he sought inspiration from 1980s cinema, action-oriented and otherwise, to create the new film’s larger-than-life set pieces, and how the Beverly Hills he saw in that venerated first film set the stage for him to launch his feature directorial career.”