Tim Piper
Tim Piper | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 or 1972 (age 52–53) |
| Other names | Timothy David |
| Occupation | Filmmaker |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of Piro production company |
| Notable work | Farmed and Dangerous (2014) |
Timothy David Piper (born 1971 or 1972), also known as Timothy David, is an Australian writer and director based in New York City. He is known for directing many television commercials, including Dove's 2008 "Evolution" ad, as well as Farmed and Dangerous, a four-part webisode comedy series released in 2014 for Chipotle Mexican Grill.
His debut feature film is Kangaroo Island, due to premiere on the closing night of the Adelaide Film Festival in on 3 November 2024.
Early life
[edit]Timothy David Piper[1] was born in South Australia[2] in1971 or 1972.[3] He grew up in Adelaide.[4][5]
Piper left Australia in 2004.[4][5]
Career
[edit]Advertising
[edit]Piper was responsible for creating the gecko character for Bridgestone Australia[6] around 1999, animated by James Neale and used until 2022.[7][8] The character underwent a makeover by Cirkus Animation in 2023.[9][10]
Working for Ogilvy & Mather in Toronto, Canada, Piper wrote and co-directed (with Yael Staav) Dove's "Evolution" television commercial.[11][12] This was part of Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty", which Piper had helped to develop with creative director Janet Kestin. This was a kind of "meta-marketing" campaign that aimed to show tricks used by advertisers, and to raise women's self-esteem when it was revealed that photos of women did not represent reality.[3] He also produced another ad for Dove, called Onslaught, and a short for Becel margarine, Broken Escalator.[6]
Among other commercials created with Ogilvy and Mather, Piper was a co-writer on the award-winning advertising campaign for "Diamond Shreddies" in Canada in 2008.[13][14] The ad won the Grand Clio and Cannes awards.[6][15]
Video, TV, and webseries
[edit]In 2013 he gained widespread attention for creating a viral video showing his wife, actress Sally Gifford Piper as a model, having her appearance radically transformed by photoshopping.[16]
In 2014, Piper and Daniel Rosenberg worked to create, write, and produce Farmed and Dangerous, a four-part webisode comedy series for Chipotle Mexican Grill,[17] in which his wife also appeared.[18]
He was executive producer on the sitcom Odd Mom Out for Bravo, which ran for three seasons from 2015 to 2017.[6]
Feature film
[edit]Under the name Timothy David, his debut feature film is Kangaroo Island, which has its world premiere on the closing night of the Adelaide Film Festival on 3 November 2024.[4][2][19] The film was originally titled Animal, referring to the observation of the characters as human animals.[5] It is written by his wife Sally Gifford and produced by David, Peter Hanlon,[a] Bettina Hamilton, Daniel M. Rosenberg, and Leona Cichon, with Pouch Potato Productions Pty Ltd. Ian McCarroll is cinematographer and music is by Ariel Marx. The film stars Rebecca Breeds, Adelaide Clemens, Erik Thomson, and Joel Jackson.[2] Filming took place on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, including at Snelling Beach and Emu Bay.[4] The plot centres on an Australian actress, Lou, who has failed to achieve success in Los Angeles, and returns home to deal with aa complicated relationship with her sister Freya and her father.[4]
Piro
[edit]Piper and American producer Daniel M. Rosenberg, who developed and executive produced Spike Lee's 2006 film Inside Man, co-founded the film production company Piro in New York. The company produces most of their commercial work.[6]
Accolades
[edit]Piper has won several advertising industry awards, including a Grand Clio and other Clio Awards; two Grand Prix in the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity; and D&AD Pencils.[1]
In 2008, after the success of Dove's Evolution, Time magazine listed Piper as a finalist on its Time 100 list.[3]
Creativity magazine listed Piper as one of the World's Top 50 Creative Thinkers, and made Time included him in their Top 200 Most Influential People in the World.[6]
The New York Times reported third-party research showing that Farmed and Dangerous was more influential in changing audience behavior than 98 percent of films and TV shows of recent years that were made to have social impact (including An Inconvenient Truth and other well-known films).[1]
Personal life
[edit]Piper married Canadian actress Sally Gifford, and has been based in New York City since around 2004.[4] They have two children. In 2016, they bought a holiday house on Kangaroo Island. They are both dual citizens.[4]
The couple move between Australia and the US, and as of October 2024[update] David is still co-owner of Piro.[4] They sold their apartment in New York when they moved to Australia for a year to make Kangaroo Island, and have found life in South Australia attractive for bringing up their young children.[4]
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Former chair of the South Australian Film Corporation; as of 2024 co-chairs the Mercury Cinema.
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Tim Piper / (IMDB Timothy D Piper) Writer/Director". Tim Piper. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Closing Night Gala". Adelaide Film Festival. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ a b c "Tim Piper". Time.com. 1 April 2008. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Debelle, Penelope (9 October 2024). "Kangaroo Island sets the scene for Film Festival gala screening". InReview. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ a b c Barlow, Helen (20 May 2024). "French connection: film takes director from KI to Cannes". InReview. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f "Story". PIRO. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Bridgestone Gecko Illustrations". NEALE.DIGITAL. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ Bridgestone Gecko and Peter Brock circa 2004 on YouTube
- ^ "Revival of the Bridgestone Gecko". Cirkus Animation. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Revival of the Bridgestone Gecko". Cirkus Animation. 18 April 2023. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Tim Piper, Dove Real Beauty Campaign". Box of Crayons. 19 March 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Champagne, Christine (26 October 2007). "Top Spot of the Week: Ogilvy Toronto's Tim Piper Stages A Hard Hitting, Unrelenting 'Onslaught'". SHOOT. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
- ^ "Diamond Shreddies integrated campaign". Communication Arts. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "D&AD Awards 2008 Pencil Winner". D&AD. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Diamond Shreddies, an unbelievable rebranding case study". Fameable. 5 May 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
- ^ "Identity of 'Body Evolution' Model Revealed". ET Online. 1 November 2013. Archived from the original on 12 November 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ Keslassy, Elsa (12 April 2014). "MipTV: Chipotle And Piro Discuss The Making And Future Of 'Farmed And Dangerous'". Variety. Archived from the original on 12 April 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
- ^ "Farmed and Dangerous, S1E4 "Ends Meat": A Web Show Review". Culture War Reporters. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2024.
- ^ Slatter, Sean (17 September 2024). "Timothy David's 'Kangaroo Island' to close Adelaide Film Festival as full line-up, jury announced". IF Magazine. Retrieved 14 October 2024.