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Wild Gift signs director Dylan Maranda
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The acclaimed director of hard-hitting PSA Happy Birthday, Twitter is now represented for commercial work in the U.S.
Creative collective Wild Gift, co-founded last year by production veteran David Mitchell, has signed Dylan Maranda, the Vancouver-based director behind the powerful PSA Happy Birthday, Twitter for the Canadian Centre for Child Protection via Mischief and No Fixed Address.
“Dylan has a strong voice for narrative storytelling that hit me immediately,” said Mitchell, Wild Gift’s Managing Director. “From the powerful performances in Happy Birthday, Twitter to the harrowing visuals driving the stories of the firefighters on the front lines in Towards the Fire, Dylan’s work evokes empathy and attention. Those are great tools for brands who want to make an impact.”
“I’m inspired by storytelling that moves people,” said Maranda. “That makes them question their outlook on the world, work that makes viewers feel part of something bigger than themselves. I think Wild Gift is the right environment to make magic happen. What struck me the most about the collective is that it is a place where every project matters. Working with good people, with integrity, is extremely important to me.”
Maranda’s credits also include A Small Weight to Forge the Sea, one of three commissioned videos for the Vancouver Biennale that features breathtaking images of ritual in a dark sea in front of a phalanx of oil rigs. Maranda’s visual sensibility has roots in photography, which he first studied in school along with directing at the SFU School for Contemporary Arts.
His photo project “Been and Gone,” featured in OD Magazine, is a road trip series about drifting away from home and is being released as a small edition photobook next year. Maranda is currently in post-production on a narrative short called Master of the House, an ode to the kitchens he grew up in with his father who is a chef.
“My hope is to merge my commercial directing experience with my narrative ambitions,” Maranda said. “Working alongside someone like David Mitchell, with his wealth of knowledge from his time working with RSA Films and its legendary filmmakers, and his experience in the commercial and content worlds struck me as an extraordinary opportunity.”
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