Why does Berlin know more about Director Talya Galasko than we do? Here’s the skinny.
We’d hardly sat back down after the standing ovation we gave when we heard that Director Talya Galasko’s short film, Hush, was shortlisted for Berlin Commercial 2020 and SHAZAM she’s now been announced as the Best GLOBAL Emerging Talent at the 2020 Bokeh Film Festival! So how exactly do these international festival folks know more about our homegrown talent than we do? Inexcusable we thought! Fear not, we met up with the best in GLOBAL, Talya herself, and Sketchbook Studios Founder and Director, Ari Kruger, to bring the nation up to speed.
But first; if you’re thinking ‘But isn’t Sketchbook that production company that ONLY shoots the Suzelle and Tali’s Wedding stuff?’ then you’re a few years behind. Hold our banana bread while we bring you back to the future. Sketchbook Studios was launched by award-winning Director Ari Kruger and also award-winning actor and comedian Julia Anastasopoulos, aka Suzelle aka Tali, to house the growing number of commercials requests they were receiving. When most traditional production companies started gearing up to offer more ‘content’ than traditional commercial work, Sketchbook had already spent years leading the charge, and have the original content and viral hits across all social platforms to prove it. The studios have over the years organically grown from a small content creation house to today being a big commercial player. Now Tali and Suzelle are only a fraction of what the highly resourceful team offers; from writing feature films, creating original TV series, directing commercials work and everything in between.
*(Check out Ari’s newly dropped campaign for 10X Investments here, which was also written and conceptualised by Sketchbook.)
As their offering expanded, their director roster also expanded to include content creators, writers and directors Talya Galasko and Glen Biderman-Pam.
So, who is Talya Galasko?
Okay, agency folks, let’s get straight to the point. When you need a resourceful director with a quirky storytelling ability to collaborate with from the germination phase or a director with a performance-based approach and distinct visual aesthetic to create an immersive world for your audience; Talya is the full package. Her writing shows a real knack for narrative and her storytelling is wonderfully irreverent, not surprising as she started out in the ad industry as a copywriter after completing her Honours in Politics at UCT and a journalism program at NYU. Making her filmmaking dreams a reality, she wrote and directed her first short film. The satirical film dealt with female sexual empowerment and saw Talya collaborating on the self-funded project with her network of industry artists and creatives. The film, ‘427 Types of Wieners’, not only saw Talya buying an unusual amount of sausages from Checkers, but also first drew Ari’s attention to her strong visual aesthetic, he adds: “When I saw her work I immediately called her. Her style, her use of vibrant colours, beautiful art direction and her quirkiness is such an elevation of the Sketchbook language. Simply put, she was the unicorn we were looking for to join the team. She’s a driven content creator, has serious writing chops, has a real art director’s eye and an incredibly powerful aesthetic that sets her work apart. We had to have her.”
Talya Did That
Building on the success of 427 Types of Wieners, Talya has been directing commercials work with Sketchbook for over 3 years but her self-initiating and self-starting attitude keeps her creating original content of her own. Her content is relevant and engaging, with strong characters and aesthetic, and not to forget the invaluable experience she has in online strategy while also being resourceful with budgets. She’s just completed a 16 spot campaign for Game which was shot mid-Lockdown and will be dropping soon, so keep your eyes peeled. Until then, here are a few of our favourite pieces from the Talya reel.
Interlude
HUSH
427 Types of Wieners
Seattle Coffee Co ‘Lingo’
Talya on Interlude: This is my latest short film. A lot of people were creating lockdown content that was very on the nose and I wanted to create something escapist, something the audience could really dive into and get lost in. That’s why art direction and performance is so important to me, because it’s the tools I use to create these worlds for my audience.
Talya on Hush: I wanted to get in touch with what it actually means to be a woman in South Africa. Hush was a departure, but I still wanted the audience, men in particular, to be in the room and feel the discomfort and question their own experiences or compliancy. I wanted to make something that belongs to us women and embalm it.
Look, we don’t need to convince you about the endless talent and resources that Talya, along with the backing of Sketchbook Studios can bring to your project. The proof is in the work. So, go on… sune@sketchbook.co.za
Contact Sketchbook Studios:
Studio Manager: Suné van Heerden
sune@sketchbook.co.za
View Sketchbook Website
Produced by the IDIDTHAT Content Studio – Credits: Anne Hirsch (Writer) / Julie Maunder
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