The Sweet Shop signs new director duo

The Sweet Shop has signed New Zealanders Mark Albiston and Louis Sutherland for commercial representation worldwide.

They are the first directors to win twice in the Short Film Section at Cannes, with Run in 2007 and The Six Dollar Fifty Man in 2009.

The Six Dollar Fifty Man scooped awards at the three film festivals -- Best International Short at Sundance (Utah) 2010, and both Special Distinction and Generation at the 60th International Film Festival (Berlin) 2010.

It is now eligible for nomination at the 2011 Oscars, and has become the NZ Film Commission's most successful short film to date.

The pair is stoked at the prospect of their new signing: “After the success of $6.50, we were approached by several international production houses, but we wanted to join a world class New Zealand team. That’s why we’re directing for The Sweet Shop.”

A total of 15 years spent honing their skills in production and performance has yielded a strong common language between the two.

“There’s nothing quite like a story that resonates through your soul, like a memory from all your senses," says Paul Prince, CEO/ managing partner of The Sweet Shop.

"Mark and Louis’s did it for me. I’m proud that they’ve joined The Sweet Shop and we’ll get a chance to support their work in the global communications space.”

Friends since primary school, Albiston learned much of his visual craft studying Fine Arts at Canterbury University, a compliment to Sutherland’s grasp of performance having attended Toi Whakari NZ Drama School.

In 2000 Albiston founded Sticky Pictures, where he has won numerous awards for arts-based magazine shows, documentaries and music videos.

The team joined forces that year to develop scripts for film, and have been collaborating successfully ever since.

Stephen Dickstein, global president /managing partner of The Sweet Shop adds: “Between the interest that they've already generated in Hollywood, and the opportunity that lies before them in the commercials business, this highly touted young directing team have quite the future ahead of them. We're fortunate to be in the position to help provide a career platform from which they can work. Watch this space.”

While the New Zealand Film Commission is currently supporting the director's in the development of their feature screenplay, Shopping.