Zero 2 Sixty and Guerilla FX Sign Director Gregg Hale
New York-based commercial production company Zero 2 Sixty (0:2:60) and their design, effects and post partner Guerilla FX (GFX), have signed director Gregg Hale for exclusive U.S. spot representation, it was announced today by 0:2:60 President/Executive Producer Doug Robbins and his GFX partner, Thor Raxlen.
Hale, who comes to 0:2:60 and GFX from Chelsea Pictures, where he was represented as Haxan Films, has directed award-winning national and regional spots over the years for clients including the 2012 New York City Olympic Campaign, MSG/The Mets, General Mills and Bolt.com.
“Gregg has a filmic sense, a comedy sense, a timing sense, and a rhythmic sense that is quite unique. He has a style that translates across the traditional borders of commercial production into more contemporary arenas,” explained Doug Robbins. “With Guerilla FX we have built a uniquely creative, vertically integrated company. Together we can take a project from preliminary discussions through the shoot, editing and effects. We cross platform all the time and Gregg’s skills will also be available to Guerilla. Any artist that we bring on at this juncture has to fit into both cultures. With Gregg, who will be marketed through both companies, we can really push all our creative resources,” Robbins continued.
Thor Raxlen, Director/Creative Director of Guerilla FX, added, “Gregg’s work is a modern twist on cinema verite. He employs multi-cameras, multi-points of view, has a strong sense of story and an ability to choose which moments and from which prospective to tell that story. He has a great eye for subtle humor and simple imagery and his style works well in commercial advertising. Part of his genius is his unique filmmaking approach. Gregg employs a high degree of realism although his style is not documentary. His is a controlled narrative approach - in his camera work, his setting of scenes, his use of first person storytelling and his improvisational style. Gregg is a great filmmaker and a great guy. He and I collaborated on many projects at Chelsea over the years and I am excited about our working together once again.”
Gregg Hale’s most recent long-form film projects as producer include Altered, a sci-fi/horror film which was purchased and released by Rogue Pictures and Seventh Moon, a supernatural thriller starring Amy Smart that is just beginning its festival run.
In 2005, Hale wrote and directed Say Yes Quickly, which screened in film festivals nationwide and won “Best Feature” at the Indie Memphis Film Festival. Gregg Hale worked as a set dresser and prop man on features and TV shows in Orlando and Los Angeles for ten years before producing The Blair Witch Project in 1999, for which he received the Producer’s Guild of America Nova Award as outstanding new producer.
Gregg Hale co-created the television series Freakylinks, that combined elements of horror, mystery and comedy, for FOX Television and produced the show’s website which is still one of the most extensive works of “e-fiction” ever presented on the Internet; He also Executive Produced the FOX remake of the In Search Of… series that conducted “investigations” into the pseudoscientific and paranormal.
In addition to his commercial and film work, Gregg Hale is one of the Executive Creative Directors at Campfire, and Hale remains there to continue that agency’s work in interactive and online advertising.
On joining the 0:2:60 and Guerilla FX families Hale said, “It is important for me to enjoy my working environment and I have had a long personal and professional relationship with Thor so I jumped at the chance to work in the commercial realm with both 0260 and GFX.”
Gregg Hale joins a creative 0:2:60 directorial roster that includes Thor Raxlen (storyteller/visual effects artists), Aggressive, AKA Dan Shapiro and Alex Topaller (motion graphics and visual effects artists/compositors), and Mehdi Zollo (youth oriented urban, graphic documentarian).
About Zero 2 Sixty (0:2:60):
Commercial production company 0:2:60, founded in March 1997 by President/Executive Producer Doug Robbins, boasts a directorial team which includes Thor Raxlen, Aggressive aka Dan Shapiro and Alex Topaller, and Mehdi Zollo. Today, with the addition of Guerilla FX, 0:2:60 finds itself in the unique position of being a production company that has effects and editorial in-house and can readily package live-action with effects. 0:2:60 recently completed commercial projects for Ford, Bell South, Rockwell International, NY Tourism, NJ Tourism, Grant Thornton, Scott’s, Savin Copiers, among others.
About Guerilla FX:
Guerilla FX, an independent design, effects and post finishing house, is the natural out growth of the relationship created when 0:2:60 Executive Producer Doug Robbins first signed Visual Effects Designer/Editor/Director Thor Raxlen for commercial direction. Together they launched Guerilla FX in January 2006 and this uniquely creative, vertically integrated company now takes projects from preliminary discussions through the shoot, editing and effects. They have recently completed high profile projects for clients including Citibank, FedEx, Foot Locker, General Mills, Kyocera, Montefiore Hospital, MTV, Nexxus, Nike, Subway, TRESemmé, and Verizon, among many others. In addition, in late 2007, Guerilla FX created a new digital division exclusively for the creation of interactive content.
0:2:60 and Guerilla FX are headquartered at 121 West 27th Street, New York, NY 10001. For further information about the advertising production company contact Head of Production Theresa Loquercio, Theresa@0260.com or call (212) 807-7123; In Chicago, Donna Daguanno, ddaguanno@aol.com or 312-953-7029 and in LA, Connie Mellors, melcoreps@earthlink.net or call 818-761-4520. For the effects and editorial facility call (212) 462-4500; For information about the digital division contact James O’Brien, President A’arra James@aarra.com or call (212) 533-8526. Please visit the 0:2:60 website at www.0260.com or the Guerilla FX website at www.guerillafx.com
