New Director Signing:James De Frond

We are overjoyed to be welcoming James De Frond to our company's growing and diverse roster. 

James emerges from a TV comedy background - having produced, written and directed some of the funniest comedy shows over the past few years - he brings a reel full of laugh-out-loud funny moments, a genuine love and understanding of the mechanics of comedy and a brilliant repertoire of strange but true stories. This is James' first foray into commercials and he has chosen Nice Shirt Films to explore it with.

London-based James honed his comedy chops whilst still a teenager, working with Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones at their phenomenally successful company, Talkback, on such comedy greats as Brass Eye, Da Ali G Show and I'm Alan Partridge. He was soon researching and writing with burgeoning comedians like Jimmy Carr and Leigh Francis in the early days of E4. His directorial breakthrough came whilst shooting Francis in "Keith Lemon's Very Brilliant World Tour". This led to a long term collaboration between the two where James developed intense relationships with each of Francis' Bo'Selecta characters including a coquettish liaison with Mel B. Spending time in each of Francis' characters' heads taught James to find each character's voice and comedic capability. 

Further productions James has co-written, produced and directed include VIP and The Morgana Show, both for Channel 4. It was James who developed all of Morgana's male characters and although initially Morgana hated him for it (she'd only ever mimic-ed women and there were lots of tears), it led to the Best Breakthrough Award at the British Comedy Awards. James has also been nominated in the Bafta Best Writing category.

James brings a fresh approach to comedy direction; exacting hilarious, multi-layed performances and situations from a beguiling array of characters. Highlights on his showreel include a Tourettes-addled hillbilly family at a baseball game, the untold story behind "Michael Jackson's iconic Billie Jean music video and a glimpse into Terry Wogan's integration into post-retirement life in Jamaica.

He continues to develop, write, produce and direct comedy. He is in development on a BBC prime time comedy sitcom and a sketch show for FX in the US: his first production meeting for the new show took place on the set of Arrested Development - specifically the Bluth family model home kitchen.

You can catch all of James' work over on his showreel at the website.

Forevermark by Liz Murphy

Nice Shirt Films is excited to announce the arrival of Liz Murphy to its growing roster of talented directors.  A young talent belying her large repertoire of work, Liz grew up in Australia and relocated to London four years ago.

Liz, like so many other directors, racked up the plaudits throughout her early years - but no other filmmaker can lay claim to her Canberra Ballet School's Award for Excellence, aged only 9. A creatively diverse development followed: at home where she made her own DIY animations right through to film school, where she directed tender, emotional art films.

Upon graduation, Liz was shortlisted for the CFP-E/Shots Young Director award at Cannes with her first ever job. After winning more awards for Suncorp and conducting a frantic symphony in a marvellous Telstra ad, Liz continued her knack for developing and creating an array of beguiling films including complex stop-frame animation in her intricate RAC and Homebase commercials.

One of the most diverse directors we've come across, Liz's debut collaboration with Nice Shirt is a spot for the Debeers diamond brand, Forevermark.

The spot is a beautiful one; giving us a captivating glimpse into an emotional connection between a man and a woman. Liz encapsulates the affection the couple share with each other with a palette of warm colours, intimate focus and touching performances.

Liz has also recently completed "Heart Lock"; a self-written, self-produced short film about a boy meeting a girl with an intriguing secret. It has comfortably found its place on the 2013 festival circuit, premiering at the Atlantic Film Festival in Canada.

The folk at Nice Shirt commented, "Liz wowed us with her intelligence (she's a self-confessed technical nerd), tenacity and remarkable attention to detail.  She's also very funny and great fun to work with. She is a director with many strings to her bow and we are very much looking forward to developing her talents in this market."

Introducing Jan Kwiecinski

We are pleased to introduce Jan as the latest addition to Nice Shirt's roster. 

His reel is live on the website now, so check it out! We'll be featuring his work and lots more over the coming week, so stick around. 

Wave "Hello!" to our new director

Nice Shirt is proud to introduce a new addition to our directors' roster, Jan Kwiecinski. We'll be telling you much more about Jan all through next week so stay tuned!