Devil Made Me Do It

MAD welcomes one of Toronto’s notable music video directors to the roster for commercial representation!

Marc Ricciardelli was at one time one of the country’s most fearless vert skateboarders.  Nothing could stop him from a career on four wheels….Expect the love he has for his kids and directing, and of course a broken tibia.  The fearlessness he possessed then has only grown and explodes within his ever expanding collection of cutting edge music videos. Never one to adopt pre-existing conventions, Marc breathes originality into every project, making it his mission to make sure the creative is part of a collaborative effort and something that all parties favour at the end of the day.

His background in the camera department and his precise skills in the edit suite are just some of the tools Marc is equipped with to ensure that what is on his film comes to life and is in the face of new audiences each time.  In the past few years Marc has helmed videos for some of Canada’s most notable rock and punk outfits such as Alexisonfire, City and Colour, Protest the Hero, Cancer Bats, and Hostage Life. He has been nominated in some of Canada’s top music video award categories, and has taken home hardware from both the MMVA’s and the Junos, respectively.

Loving the work that has come his way over the years, Marc has decided to take all the experience he has honed throughout his time in the industry and expand it beyond the music video walls and into the world of commercials. Not one to shy away from a challenge, Marc is gearing up to open a new door and is eager to jump through with fists first.  MAD’s happy to have him part of the family.

You all know the man.  You all know his work…and now, he’s gone MAD!

Mark and I are pleased to announce the arrival of Richard D’Alessio to the MAD Films Inc. family for exclusive Canadian representation!

He began his career by writing, producing and directing a local cable TV comedy show in New York at the age of 19. He then plunged into advertising at the age of 22 working alongside the legendary ad man Donny Deutsch on Madison Avenue creating and directing over 300 commercials together, including the famous North American launch of the Ikea “Salesman” campaign. Since then Richard has directed 4 top ten Super Bowl Commercials and one top 10 of all time “Cedric date” for Bud Light, according to USA Today’s poll. His television commercials, have won numerous international awards including three Lions at Cannes, and inclusion in four separate television specials highlighting the world’s best commercials. Richard has worked all over the world directing international commercial campaigns for clients such as Budweiser, Nintendo, Pepsi, Snickers, and General Motors. Richard has also directed seven full-length documentary films, including “Man and the Mosquito” currently running National Geographic Explorer series, and produced and directed two internationally acclaimed short films, “Seven Gates” and “The Dane”. He is the founder and owner of Unplugged www.unpluggedtv.com a digital entertainment studio. Unplugged he has produced and/or directed many entertainment series’ and most notably he worked alongside Barry Levinson and Jerry Seinfeld as the animation director for the “Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman” for American Express. Currently he has created produced and directed several television and branded entertainment series that are in production. Most notably SLOTCAR and Knob Hockey.

Both Mark and I are thrilled to have him on board with us and we are looking forward to the future ahead!

To view only a fraction of Richard’s reel, click on his pic.  For more of his work, please don’t hesitate to contact either Mark or I at the office.

C

In keeping with keeping up, I found today fit to chat about the latest from MAD!

2009 started fast and furious. No really, I mean it! 5 jobs landed by the time I entered the office on Jan. 5 (well, more or less). MAD’s office was a fine working machine! Housing not 1, not 2, but 5 jobs in the months of January and February.

Believe me, it was crazy in here! But keeping it together for 3 of the 5 was David Harner. Coming back to TO (his new home away from home) the first out of the gate was with the boutique agency Clean Sheet Communications for their client Go Rving Canada. 2 locations and some unpredicted weather (damn Canadian winter) David and the team that backed him, managed to pull it off. And this was just the beginning….

Stay tuned for more from David over the last 4 weeks. More to come from Steve “Spaz” Williams and Robert Maya.

ca

Wow, I can’t beleive it’s 2009 and I have NOT updated the blog. Crazy times here. Now that there is time to breathe, I should catch you up on the ongoings of MAD. At least the end of 2008. Time to back track…..

The last three months of ‘08 brought food to our table and work in the hands of Reilly Saso, Robert Maya and David Harner. All three were busy before the bell dropped and the New Year rolled in.

Reilly threw on this “French” hat and shot a spot for Boreal College through TWG Communications. A great spot with a small star. Or shall I say SMARTer?

Robert began prepping for a 6 month long job (shhhhh, can’t say what it’s for just yet), but had time to spare as DDB and he collaborated on their spot for Capital One titled “Chase” in his hometown of Miami.

David also was in Miami to shoot Tums “Coming Home” with Arnold Worldwide, but not before he stopped off in Toronto for a 2 day, 2 spot shoot with Draft FCB for Charter Accountants.

MAD also signed Billy Kent to our roster of directors, representing him here in Canada. We are very happy to have him on board as he brings a fresh comedic look that we’ve been looking for and adds to the equation that equals MAD Films. For his reel, click here Billy Kent Reel.

To view the above mentioned spots and to see what we were up to the other nine months of 2008 click here MAD YEAR IN REVIEW.

Write soon!

Well Hello!

Thanks for stopping by to view our new space! With all the changes in the world, we’ve decided to make a change ourselves and vamp up our look. Make it more……MAD!

I’ll be posting info and pics of the on goings of our directors and of MAD in general. I’m currently in New York for the Boards Summit. If you’re here, don’t be shy and come say hi!

Again, thanks for coming to view the new site. More news to come in the future.

ca