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/cinematographer George Billard for exclusive U.S. spot representation and for the creation of interactive content.
"George is a fabulous visualist. As a shooter he represents a photographic and documentary ability that is so right for us. His spot work, his environmental imagery and landscapes are beautiful, and he is wonderful with real people. In addition, his understanding of design and movement is exceptional. George is an interesting find for us and we believe he will make a real contribution to our company," explained 0:2:60 President/Executive Producer Doug Robbins.
Billard comes to 0:2:60/GFX from Do Diligence (New York, New York), a company he founded in 1996, where, for the past dozen years, he has directed commercial and corporate assignments for clients including Merrill Lynch, American General, Panasonic, Care, Toyota, Warner Lambert, Publix, Air Maroc, Pedigree, Dannon, Starwood Hotels and Gallo.
Billard also directed two documentaries THE BIRDMAN OF JFK and NUCLEAR TERRORISM: THE ULTIMATE PREVENTABLE CATASTROPHE as well as the A&E television series THE WELL-SEASONED TRAVELER. Going forward, all his commercial work will be directed through 0:2:60/GFX, however, he will continue to develop television and feature work through Do Diligence.
Billard began his career in film after graduating from Boston University's film program. He quickly founded two commercial production companies, Egg Cream Films and Flatiron Films, to produce documentaries, television commercials and music videos for a wide variety of clients including Sony, Mobile, Warner Bros., Revlon, Kodak, AT&T and Victoria's Secret.
In addition to his commercial and film work, Billard honed his skills as a cinematographer and ultimately built a substantial film library that is available for worldwide licensing through Getty Images. He has traveled extensively and has produced/directed/shot in the United States, Chile, Peru, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Spain, France, Portugal, England, Ireland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Mongolia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Japan, Iceland, Vietnam, Morocco, and Easter Island. His website
www.planetbillard.com won a Webby in 2007 for Best Personal Website. That same year, his website was honored by the Web Marketing Association as Best Photography Website.
On joining the 0:2:60/Guerilla FX family Billard said, "I'm looking forward to joining with Doug Robbins and Thor Raxlen. Their clarity of vision in the currently turbulent landscape, with an emphasis on problem solving in pre-production through post, makes them an ideal partner. They have a depth of experience in both broadcast and the web that I find very appealing."
Billard joins a creative 0:2:60/GFX directorial roster that includes Thor Raxlen (storyteller/visual effects artists), Gregg Hale (storyteller/multi-camera), John Bair (visual effects artist) and director/designer team Aggressive, AKA Dan Shapiro and Alex Topaller (motion graphics and visual effects artists/compositors).
