Park Pictures signs Gold Lion-winning directing team The Mercadantes for U.S. commercial and worldwide representation. Made up of directors Daniel Mercadante and Katina Mercadante, the duo has directed acclaimed spots and branded films for the likes of Apple, VW, Levi’s, Netflix and Chevrolet, and collaborates with such top agencies as Droga5, Anomaly, Wieden+Kennedy and R/GA.

Click HERE to see The Mercadantes’ reel.  

“The Mercadantes have developed a very personal form of filmmaking,” notes Park Pictures Executive Producer Jackie Kelman Bisbee. “Their work has astonishing intimacy and a breathtaking visual style. Their process, respect and commitment for their subjects’ lives and stories raises the bar for all of us. We’re very proud to have them at Park.”

“Park Pictures feels like a really good fit, and that stems from Jackie [Bisbee] and Lance [Acord],” Daniel explains. “Their sensibility matches what we want to do not just in advertising but in filmmaking in general. They’re looking for the next important, powerful, beautiful story to tell.” Adds Katina, “Park Pictures has a family thing going, with directors we have looked up to and respected for years.”

Before joining The Mercadantes, Katina directed and produced documentaries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, working on international film projects for the UN.  Educated at Amherst College, she met Daniel while making a series of commercials shot docu-style. The Mill Valley-based duo has been collaborating on films and award-winning commercials ever since.

Daniel’s singularly truthful sensibility has earned accolades such as a Gold Lion at Cannes, a Young Director’s Award at Cannes, a Clio and recognition at The Guggenheim Museum in New York City. The Prudential campaign, “Day One Stories,” which Daniel co-directed as founder/member of the directing collective Everynone, was awarded a Gold Lion in 2012 and was featured on TED Ads Worth Spreading. Fascinated by filmmaking since his early childhood, Daniel studied film at Emerson College. The Mercadantes co-directed spots and content for several years, winning a Grand Clio award for the real people “Sports Matter” campaign for Dick’s Sporting Goods. Other recent projects include the “Find Your Fitbit” campaign and the recent “Watch Together” campaign for Netflix.

Daniel Mercadante first entered the directing spotlight with the Everynone films Symmetry and Words, commissioned by the wildly popular NPR show/podcast, Radiolab. The episodes garnered millions of views online, inspiring agencies and brands to tap the director’s unique talents.

The Mercadantes have worked primarily with non-actors to capture, rather than construct, their subjects and their stories. The duo’s shorts and spots reveal the beauty in the everyday, playing with the lines between documentary, fiction and experimental cinema. Along with broadcast and online commercials, the directors’ films have screened at art galleries including the Guggenheim’s YouTube Play Biennial.

The Mercadantes come to Park from Epoch Films.

About Park Pictures 

Founded in 1998 by Executive Producer Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee and renowned filmmaker/cinematographer Lance Acord, Bicoastal/London-based Park Pictures has an auspicious track record of discovering and mentoring new filmmaking talent, and infusing all projects with big screen production values. Park Pictures has forged strong partnerships with agencies, studios and clients worldwide by engaging all members of its team in creative problem solving.

In commercials, Lance Acord won a 2014 Emmy for his acclaimed Apple “Misunderstood” commercial. Acord’s Nike “Jogger” was named Best TV Spot of 2012 by Creativity Magazine and also got a 2013 Emmy nod. Acord has received three DGA Award nominations for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials.

Park Pictures’ feature division, headed by Producer Sam Bisbee, Jacqueline Kelman Bisbee and Lance Acord, has produced four features, all of which were selected for the Sundance Film Festival within a three-year timespan. Picked up by major distributors were Sundance award-winning Robot and Frank (2013), Infinitely Polar Bear (2014), starring Mark Ruffalo and Zoe Saldana, and God’s Pocket (2014), starring the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. In 2015, Park Pictures comes to Sundance with Cop Car (2015), its first thriller, starring Kevin Bacon. Park Pictures won a 2010 Academy Award for the company’s first narrative film, live-action short “The New Tenants,” starring Vincent D’Onofrio.