Welcome… SHOOT’s 22nd Annual New Directors Showcase offers a total of 30 directors–26 individuals and two directing duos. Twenty-five directors are currently unaffiliated with a production company.

The NDS Class of 2024 includes directors from varied backgrounds that include acting, producing, editing, production design, sound design, visual effects, live theater, serving in agency creative and in-house directing capacities, comedy writing for such series as “Saturday Night Live” and “The Goldbergs,” on staff at Apple as a video producer, even working in the film commission sector to provide support services to the industry at large.

Our ‘24 Class consists of 15 female directors (including one duo, and half of another duo), 14 male helmers (including half of a duo), and one nonbinary director.

The Showcase directors’ body of work spans commercials, public service fare, branded content, a feature film, shorts, documentaries, music videos, proof of concept for a TV series, a sports team promo and spec work.

Agency background
On the agency score, unaffiliated director Lanre Danmola, a first generation Nigerian-American from South Orange, NJ, landed his first creative role with Wieden+Kennedy NY where he worked at its social media sub-agency, Bodega. There, he primarily performed as an in-house director, but had the opportunity to produce, write and art direct for a variety of campaigns. He then began freelancing and has worked with varied companies since. Most recently, he served as a creative director at Coinbase to launch its new social video content strategy.

Apple producer
As for the former video producer for Apple, Chris Cole had that tour of duty in the Bay Area prior to becoming an unaffiliated Showcase director. He observed, “Going through that soup to nuts process at a company that works on such a high level ended up strengthening me so much as a director, and I don’t think ‘Terminally Ill’ [his short film Showcase entry] has the attention to detail and level of craft without me having gone through the experience of working at Apple.”

“SNL,” “The Goldbergs”
Alison Rich, who is with production company Imposter, came to directing from a background in comedy writing and acting. She has worked professionally for over a decade as an actor and writer. She’s written on TV shows including “Saturday Night Live” and “The Goldbergs.” And Rich has acted in various TV shows and movies including “2 Broke Girls,” “The Goldbergs,” “Drunk History,” and “The Other Two.”

Unaffiliated filmmakers
In addition to the aforementioned Danmola and Cole, the unaffiliated crop of up-and-coming filmmaking talent–25 directors in all, including a pair of duos–consists of Pamela M. Carbonero, Chris Cole, Lanre Danmola, Reece Daniels, Lauren Maya Davis, Giuseppe De Lauri, Louise de Nexon, Duncan Heger, Ava Himmel, Elizabeth Katz, Thavary Krouch, Brian Lawes, Mitchell Lazar, Derek Nguyen, Vanessa Pla, Potter Sisters (Grace & Emily Potter), Sophia Prestwich, Igor Raevskii, Shahriar Rahman, scout (Lindsay Sunada & Jensen Vinca), Annalee Walton, Dennis Williams, and Jackie! Zhou.

Company ties
Five Showcase directors have production company affiliations. In addition to Alison Rich, they are: Jason Blanc of Diamond View; India Donaldson of Tinygiant; Raghav Rampal of Collider; and Severine Reisp of Cutter Entertainment.

Reel value
Annual highlights for us include conducting the  SHOOT New Directors Search, compiling the SHOOT New Directors Showcase Reel and producing the New Directors Showcase Event. After the Reel debuts at the Event, the Reel is posted on this NDS website as a means of continued exposure for the directors in the Showcase.

The NDS Reel is a force for connecting as agencies seek new collaborators, and production companies reach out to directors who can enhance their rosters. The Reel also is a platform for new voices to be heard as diverse storytelling perspectives are more valuable and relevant than ever in helping to better society through fostering more empathy and deeper understanding of others, including those often underrepresented in the media landscape.

SHOOT was pleased to debut this year’s reel to a live industry audience at the SHOOT 22nd Annual New Directors Showcase Event at the DGA on December 9, 2024.

You can now view the Reel online.  A special Thank You goes to charlieuniformtango for once again compiling the SHOOT New Directors Showcase Reel.  We hope you enjoy the Reel, spread the word to your colleagues and friends to check out the work and take a look at each director’s profile page. Helping new voices to be heard is most gratifying for us at SHOOT. We wish all the NDS filmmakers a long and successful career, and we are excited to play some small part in bringing them to your attention.