MERMAN - Key Persons
Ben Liam Jones began turning heads in 2012 when he picked up ‘Best New Director' at the very first SHOTS Awards. Since then it's been a steady rise for the director who has gone on to direct powerful, memorable and celebrated works for the likes of SKY, Cadbury, Arthritis UK, Land Rover and Centerparcs.
Charlie Crane is a photographer and filmmaker known for his poignant depiction of humanity and storytelling.
Beginning his career in photography, Charlie's work has been exhibited in galleries and museum collections internationally, and has won numerous awards throughout Europe and the United States including Bloomberg New Contemporaries, Lucie Awards, National Portrait Gallery Portrait Prize, British Journal of Photography Annual Award, Creative Review Photography Annual Award, IPA Awards, AoP Awards, Campaign Press and Kodak Portrait Photographer of the Year. Charlie's photographic collection Welcome to Pyongyang was published by Chris Boot and received worldwide acclaim.
Transitioning into filmmaking, Charlie has worked on campaigns with globally recognized brands including Apple, Facebook, Gillette, Jeep, Ikea, American Red Cross, American Express, McDonald's, and Adidas among others. His short film, Talgar the Hunter has received critical praise and has screened at festivals nationwide.
Damiana is a Mexican director based in Los Angeles. She recently became a U.S. citizen and is still chasing her evolving version of the American dream. Her poetic and ethereal visual storytelling style focuses on female-led, magical realism narratives. She is the recipient of the prestigious Mexican scholarship FONCA-Conacyt, which helped her pursue an MFA in Directing at AFI. She was recently selected as an emerging Mexican filmmaker by HBO and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as part of their Tomorrow's Filmmaker's Today program. In addition to her narrative short film work, which has been screened at festivals worldwide, Damiana has directed commercial work for Walmart and music videos for Mexican artists such as Angela Aguilar. She recently completed a nationwide commercial campaign for McDonald's.
Declan Lowney is a very funny Irish Film and Television Director. He has directed many of the UK's best-loved TV comedies and commercials, from the cult hit Father Ted, to the comedy juggernauts Little Britain and Cold Feet. He's a six-time BAFTA Nominee and two-time BAFTA winner for comedy direction, and two of his shows have won International EMMYs.
Most recently, Declan has been working on the Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, serving as both director and supervising producer. The smash hit show has received awards left, right and centre including 3 Critics Choice Awards, 3 GN Awards, 2 WGA Awards, a SAG Award, an AFI Award, an ACE Award, and a Golden Globe for its star and creator Jason Sudeikis.
Declan's work is characterised by a light comic touch, and warm, sparkling performances that capture the emotional beats of a story, while still keeping it funny. Across his career Declan has worked with the biggest names out there whether it be Sly Stallone, George Clooney, Robert De Niro, Idris Elba, and Steve Coogan. Or even Beyonce, Spice Girls and a certain someone named Stevie Wonder. When it comes to working with top talent, quite simply Declan is the best there is.
Declan has directed award winning and memorable campaigns for some of the most prestigious comedy brands going, from Warburtons, Halifax and AA to BT, Santander and Sky.
Derek Waters is best known as the creator of Comedy Central's DRUNK HISTORY. In the early days of DRUNK HISTORY, the short Douglass & Lincoln, starring Will Ferrell and Don Cheadle, premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and won The Jury Prize for Best American Short. Since then Derek has directed a number of DRUNK HISTORY's funniest segments and episodes, developing a strong skill for capturing comedic performances and working with name talent.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Co - Founder of Bad Day
Eva Michon is an award-winning international film director with a gift for cinematic storytelling and natural comedic timing.
Born in Johannesburg, Eva grew up in Toronto, where she studied film at the prestigious Ryerson University. She cut her teeth with music videos for bands such as Owen Pallett, Head Wound City, Deap Vally, and Death From Above 1979, before expanding into the commercial and narrative filmmaking world. Eva has made films for clients such as Samsung, Netflix, Chanel, Coca-Cola, Canon, Lincoln Motor Company, Facebook, Ace & Jig, Pink Tartan and Rita Liefhebber to name a few.
Eva is also the co-founder of Bad Day, a creative cutting edge biannual arts and culture magazine. She recently debuted a short film, "Small Fry, " at the Toronto International Film Festival, and is currently working on her first feature film.
Job Titles:
- Accounts ( Commercials Only )
Job Titles:
- Development Script Editor
LEV PAKMAN was born and raised in New York City. He attended Fiorello H. Laguardia High School and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. During college, Lev produced and directed his first short film, SIDE EFFECTED, which was voted an "Audience Favorite" at the 2013 Palm Springs International Shortfest, earned a Vimeo Staff Pick, and played at festivals internationally. His short film, FOR THE RECORD, premiered at the 2014 Hamptons International Film Festival. His short doc, CPL. BRITTANY JACKSON'S SMILE, premiered on Vimeo Staff Picks, played at the 2019 Sarasota Film Festival, and received a write-up in The Advocate.
His feature-length screenplay MOUTHPIECE, co-written with playwright Francisca Da Silveira, was shortlisted for the 2020 Sundance Screenwriters Lab.
Lev has directed commercials for brands like GEICO, Samsung, Kraft Heinz, T-Mobile, Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs, The Glenlivet, Ajinomoto, and Captain Morgan in collaboration with globally recognized ad agencies including R/GA, BBH, Edelman Digital, 72andSunny, GUT, Wunderman+, Evoke Group, The Martin Agency, and Anomaly. His "Everybody Strip" campaign for Breathe Right was named "Ad of the Week" by Campaign US. His Captain Morgan "Shotface" commercial starring Charles Melton received shoutouts from Adweek and Us Weekly. His "Redefine CRS" campaign starring Eddie Huang received Webby and Shorty Award nominations as well as attention from The New York Times, BBC, NBC News, CNN, Adweek, and Ad Age.
Lev began as a performer and, at age 13, sang one of the Three Genies in Julie Taymor's production of The Magic Flute at The Metropolitan Opera. He has had a recurring role on RED OAKS (Amazon) and appeared in LOVE THE COOPERS (Lionsgate), THE MYSTERIES OF LAURA (NBC), and the Counting Crows music videos "Palisades Park" and "Scarecrow."
Lev is currently in post on DEAL OF A LIFETIME, a short film he wrote and directed starring David Cross.
Job Titles:
- Management / Production Accountant
Job Titles:
- Production / Post Production Co - Ordinator
Lucy Walker is an Emmy-winning British film director who has twice been nominated for an Academy Award and is renowned for creating riveting, character-driven nonfiction that delivers emotionally and narratively. Lucy's films include feature documentaries The Crash Reel (2013), Waste Land (2010), Countdown to Zero (2010), Blindsight (2006), Devil's Playground (2002) and short films, notably The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011) and The Lion's Mouth Opens (2014).
Her films have been shortlisted for five Oscars (with The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom and Waste Land also nominated) and nominated for seven Emmys (The Crash Reel winning one). For her advertising work she has been recognised with awards including three Cannes Lions, two Clios, two One Clios and two Association of Independent Commercial Producers awards.
Luke White is an award-winning Director hailing from the UK. His revolutionary array of campaigns for globally recognized brands such as Nordstrom, Replay, H&M, Baileys, O2, Swarovski and Adidas have garnered him the respect as being a leading innovator in the world of filmmaking. His experimental films commissioned by Nowness, such as ‘Mine' and ‘Umbrella,' have been greatly applauded by the advertising community for their unique and experimental perspective. Throughout his career, Luke has collaborated with some of the top agencies, post-production, VFX houses, and production teams in the business.
Accomplished in technical approach, in-camera and in post-production, Luke's filmmaking guarantees an element of magic. The work is artfully crafted and truly conceptual; earning a Gold Lion and Young Directors' Award at Cannes Film Festival as well as exhibitions worldwide, from the Guggenheim Museum to the British Film Institute.
Olly Williams brings something different to the Merman roster with his keen eye for design, distinctive visual and narrative styles, often imbued with a subtle sense of humour.
Having made his name as one of the UK's most highly regarded commercial production designers he offers an interesting, versatile and craft driven approach to everything he's involved in.
Paul Middleditch is regarded as one of the top performance TV Commercial Directors in the world. Paul is Australia's most awarded commercials Director, over 300, with 8 Cannes Lions 4 of which are gold, and numerous international and national awards to his credit.
Having directed commercials for Carlton Draught, Budweiser, Pepsi, Optus and New Zealand Lotteries to name a few, Paul's madcap humor and full-on energy have made him far and away one of the most successful commercial directors to come out of Australia and New Zealand. Paul works internationally between Australasia, the US, the UK, Europe and Asia.
Peter William Glanz is a writer/director who has shot commercials for numerous notable brands such as: Tommy Hilfiger, Swarovski, and DKNY, and most recently finished campaigns for Veuve Cliquot, RAM, and Carolina Herrera.
In addition to his commercial work, Peter has continued his collaboration with bespoke designer, Doyle Meusser, with his third short film, Indian Gigilo. The film is an homage to American Gigilo and stars Waris Ahluwalia. Peter also wrote and directed a short film titled Intimate Strangers which is currently on the festival circuit.
He is currently in pre-production for a TV show he is writer/creator/EP for with Ben Affleck about gangsters in 1960's London, an untitled film he is writing for Martin Scorsese to direct, and another film with Casey Affleck about a con-artist who sold the Eiffel Tower in the 1930's (which he aims to direct next year).
Job Titles:
- Co Founder
- Writer, Producer and Director
Sharon Horgan is a BAFTA award-winning Irish actress, writer, producer and director, who is perhaps best known for her multiple award-winning sitcom Catastrophe, which she co-writes and stars in with Rob Delaney. Together they won the BAFTA TV Craft Award for Best Writing in a Comedy Series in 2016. Sharon has gained three individual BAFTA nominations for her comedy performances, alongside a Primetime Emmy Award Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series.
Sharon was also nominated for two BAFTA Awards and won two British Comedy Awards for her BBC show Pulling which she co-wrote and starred in. As a director, Sharon won critical acclaim with her debut short-film The Week Before Christmas, which also went on to win the Outstanding Achievement Award at the International 3D Awards. She has recently directed an episode of Modern Love, the comedy anthology for Amazon Prime Video. Sharon will soon be making her feature film directorial debut for Focus Features, with an adaptation of the novel The New World.
Earlier this year, Sharon starred alongside Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman and Kyle Chandler in the critical and commercial hit feature film Game Night. She has also recently wrapped on the feature film Military Wives alongside Kristin Scott Thomas. The film is inspired by a BBC factual series about a choirmaster who selects and trains amateur singers.
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer
- Partner
- Joint MD / EP
Job Titles:
- Executive Producer
- Partner
- Joint MD / EP
Job Titles:
- Head of Scripted Television
Job Titles:
- Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford / Development Manager
Will Clark has some serious comedy stripes. After spending most of his free time making comedy shorts (when he really should have been studying) at Central Saint Martins, he was picked up by the people at MTV before becoming creative director for companies like Comedy Central and ITV. He has developed features for companies such as Rocket Pictures, Starchild, Pathe, Aardman and 21 Laps in the US. All hilarious and all still currently unproduced because getting films made is a right ball ache. His short film, The Amazing Trousers, starred Kris Marshall and Alice Eve was screened at FrightFest, the BFI London Film Festival, and was a finalist at the TCM Short Film Awards.
Will also won a BAFTA for his promotional work on Charlie Brooker's show, Dead Set and most recently, gold at the British Arrows, along with two Cannes Lions for his work on the Sunday Times Unquiet Minds series. Will's brilliant writing skills along with his directing has created a wonderfully nuanced style of subtle comedy performance connected with a distinctive visual flair. His body of commercials includes brands such as VW, Google, O2, C4, Plusnet, Capital FM and Fishermans Friend. Will is currently CD for E4 and Channel 4 Comedy at 4Creative.