#saman kesh

[lesterplatt]

Makeup & Vanity Set // ALGORITHM from Saman Kesh on Vimeo.

When A.I. starts cancelling humans.

〓〓Play it fullscreen and loud〓〓

Written & Directed by: Saman Kesh (IG: @saman_kesh) Justin Daashuur Hopkins (IG:@justindaashuurhopkins)

Music by Makeup & Vanity Set. makeupandvanityset.bandcamp.com/album/endless-destiny-data093 Mastering by Paul Cousins.

Visual FX & Graphics: Alan Mykitta. Producer: David Hemphill. Cast: Jeff - Chris Candy. Cinematography: Jason Tippet. Label: Data Airlines. Executive Producer: Transfuges.

Special Thanks: Aja Daashuur. Jean Guo. Lillith Guo. Yoshino. Natasha Waisfeld. Kalle

(P) Makeup & Vanity Set, Data Airlines 2020 (C) Data Airlines / Transfuges / AlterK 2020 Algorithm is featuring on the album Endless Destiny (DATA093) available on digital, 12" and audio cassette via Data Airlines.

[lordgunzantli]

NINTENDO // Zelda: Tears of The Kingdom (Director's Cut) from Saman Kesh on Vimeo.

It was such an HONOR to work with #Nintendo and direct a little film for the MOST anticipated game of the decade: #ZeldaTearsOfTheKingdom. Gamers show their excitement in very different ways and this is what I wanted to show in this ad. My game face is a combination of laughing, death stares and crowd repelling screams.

————————— Client: #Nintendo Advertising Manager: Chelsea Brooks  Advertising Lead: Meg Harrison  Senior Project Manager: Chiko Bird Technical Planner: Jason Mahaffa Assistant Manager Project Experience: Ethan Stockton Senior Director, Advertising & Creative: Stephanie Peters Digital Advertising Manager: Adam Radcliffe 

Agency: Deutsch Producer: Steven Frailey  Creative Director: Marcus Cross  Copywriter: Whitney Rayner  Account Director: Natalie Uribe

Production: Golden LA @staygoldenla Director: Saman Kesh @samankesh Managing Director: Matthew Marquis @matthewdmt Executive Producer: Geoff McClean @geoffreymc Producer: Thomas Martin @tomartin44 Head of Production: Arwa Ibrahim @arwasara DoP: Mike Gioulakis @mikegioulakis Production Designer: Jay Pooley @jaypooleyjay Stylist: Stacy Trace  Hair & Make Up: Shawna Lee  BTS: Dimitris Tzoytzoyrakos @dimitritzoy

Post Prod: Golden LA @staygoldenla Post Producer: Kevin Gallagher @kevyg_5 Editor: Paul Plew @paulplew Compositor: Chris Reilly  Music & Sound Design: Keith Ruggiero @soundsredaudio Color: @company_3 Colorist: Bryan Smaller @bryansmaller Producer: Mario Castro @mariocastro

[tspoe-pods]

A series of vignettes centered around the idea of some strange portals appearing around the earth.

A whole lot of style over substance, or maybe so much substance that it is difficult to comprehend?

Taken as a whole, I’m really not sure what to say about it, but taken bit by bit and moment by moment… I kind of dug it!

[beautifulinternetwhispers]

stars : Josh Peck, Wilson Bethel, Lina Esco and Kyp Malone

director : Saman Kesh, Dugan O'Neal and Jeff Desom

score 2.5 out of 4

[cinema-enigmatic]

DOORS (Saman Kesh, Dugan O'Neal, Jeff Desom, 2021)

[fearsmagazine]

FEARSmag’s Executive Editor talks with directors, writers, and producers Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal and Jeff Desom about their work on the Epic Pictures release doors.

The sci-fi thriller DOORS takes place in a world where, without any warning or explanation, alien doors abruptly appear randomly all over the earth. Those who are unable to fight the urge to interact with them are never seen again.

The story of the doors is told through multiple perspectives: a ragtag band of high school students discover a door for the first time, governments enlisted volunteers explore the parallel reality beyond the threshold, and a lonesome hermit manages the seemingly impossible when he: establishes communication with a door.

DOORS is not your typical anthology film. It comes from the minds of visionary filmmakers Chris White and Saman Kesh. In addition to writing and directing his own segment titled Knockers, Kesh produced alongside White. To round out the storytelling team for DOORS, White and Kesh enlisted the talents of filmmakers Dugan O'Neal and Jeff Desom, both of whom wrote and directed segments of this film. I had the pleasure to speak with Kesh, O’Neil, and Desom about their work on the film.

[jmunneytumbler]

The Charmingly Low-Budget 'Doors' Invites You Into an Interconnected Series of Psychotically Surreal Sci-Fi Vignettes

Doors (CREDIT: Epic Pictures) Starring: Josh Peck, Lina Esco, Wilson Bethel, Kyp Malone, Dugan O’Neal, Kathy Khanh, Julianne Collins, Aric Generette Floyd, Rory Anne Dahl, Kristina Lear, Bira Vanara, Bailee Cowperthwaite, Darius Levanté, David Hemphill Directors: Saman Kesh, Jeff Desom, Dugan O’Neal, Chris White, Ed Hobbs Running Time: 81 Minutes Rating: Unrated (There’s some intense sci-fi that…

[moviesandmania]

DOORS (2021) Preview of sci-fi anthology thriller

DOORS (2021) Preview of sci-fi anthology thriller

Doors is a 2021 American science-fiction thriller about individuals that come together when alien “doors” suddenly appear around the globe. The American anthology movie was directed by Jeff Desom, Saman Kesh, Dugan O’Neal and creative director Saman Kesh. The Bloody Disgusting-BoulderLight Pictures production stars Josh Peck, Lina Esco, Wilson Bethel and Kyp Malone. Plot: Without explanation or…

[thecomedybureau]

Please Enjoy Martin Starr and Milana Vayntrub Being Attacked by Hot Chip’s Latest Single “Hungry Child”

Short film-music video hybrids that lean heavily towards comedy seem to be trending right now and that makes up pretty happy.

This latest offering for Hot Chip’s Hungry Child not only has Martin Starr (Silicon Valley) and Milana Vayntrub (New Warriors) in a truly bizarre situation, but is the brain child of filmmaker Saman Kesh.

We’re starting to think that we might be entering a whole new golden era of music videos.

Please enjoy it on repeat here.

[cliptip]

Hungry Child by Hot Chip

Directed by Saman Kesh

[perfectmusicvideos]

Hot Chip - Hungry dir. Saman Kesh

Saman Kesh was always my favorite director and someone who inspired me to get into the game myself. It’s nice to see him returning to the medium with something cute like this. I also get a huge kick out of seeing my friend John Ennis make a cameo around 4:50.

Side note, John Ennis is the coolest.

[neonandsynth]

Controller (2013) dir. Saman Kesh

watch it here

[plumcoloredblazer]

HIT TV // The Prologue

[helloyoucreatives]

Music video of the week. 

Every computer user’s worst nightmare is the skeletons on their hard drive coming to light. So what happens when a sentient customer service chatbot gains control of an internet troll’s computer?

Directors Saman Kesh and Justin Daashuur Hopkins teamed up during lockdown to create a provocative yet playful tale on cancel culture, wherein a human protagonist gets doxed by a savage chatbot. Set to the track “Algorithm” by Makeup and Vanity Set (MAVS), this absurd yet poignant narrative showcases the sinister side of internet phenomena: AI’s influence, anonymous racists and misogynistic trolling, and most importantly, the world’s obsession with cancel culture.

Kesh and Hopkins call this type of filmmaking pokey provokey, the directors said in a joint statement: “Suffering from quarantine fatigue and enraged at the state of the world, especially as POC creatives, we wanted to vent, but in a way that felt productive, useful, entertaining. So we channeled our boredom and anger towards creating something provoking but hopefully enlightening.”

The musical artist MAVS, who is known for his dark-synth albums featuring AI-generated vocals and video game soundtracks, says, “Saman and Justin made an unflinching, uncomfortable video that speaks to what so many people are feeling. Are we good people or bad people? Who decides? What happened to empathy? These questions get asked in a blunt way, which at this point feels like the only way to ask them.”

Kesh is an Iranian-American filmmaker who is known for his high-energy narrative music videos, commercials and short films. Kesh is repped by Golden LA for commercials, and CAA and Grandview for TV and Film. Los Angeles-based artist Justin Daashuur Hopkins is a sought-after maker of film and mixed media video recognized for his multidisciplinary approach and innovative vision.

[fearsmagazine]

DOORS - Review

DISTRIBUTOR: Epic Pictures

SYNOPSIS: Without warning a number of mysterious, alien “doors” suddenly appear in every corner of the globe. While many of those that encounter these sentient visitors feel the strange urge to interact with them – never to be seen again – others stay behind to face the potential threat of what their ultimate agenda towards mankind is. In a rush to determine the reason for the arrival of these cosmic anomalies, the government enlists volunteers to brave the journey to enter the doors so that we might learn more about their origin or purpose. But even these brave volunteers are not prepared for what lies beyond the threshold. The story of the doors is told through multiple perspectives: a ragtag band of high school students discover a door for the first time, volunteers explore the parallel reality beyond the threshold, and a lonesome hermit manages the seemingly impossible as he establishes communication with a door.

REVIEW: A good science fiction story is not about the tech or gadgets. If done correctly, those are just window dressing employed in service to the story. DOORS is an exceptional narrative that explores the human condition against this unfolding event of an alien encounter. The inventive costumes and visual effects enhance these stories and add to their viewing enjoyment. It is done with such skill that the viewer will probably not realize until the end that this is an anthology movie where all the stories share a similar theme - the doors.

DOORS is an effective narrative with a singular plot that is sophistically woven together with a variety of elements that payoff as the stories unfold. The characters are unique, and their stories and encounters differe, but there is a consistency to the universe they inhabit that evolves with each tale's progression. What makes these so interesting is that their situations change and the viewer finds themselves questioning what they would do in this instance. Their characters are different, their encounters vary, but the rules of their universe are consistent. Even as they evolve so do the doors. The narrative unfolds in such a way that the doors begin to become a character based on their encounters with humanity. It adds to the depth mystery and the tension as to what the inevitable resolution will be. Still, there is something expansive about this universe that feels like there is more to be explored, more in depth, such as in an episodic series versus another 90 minute feature film.

There are several different perspectives presented in DOORS, yet the visual elements and production designs stay homogeneous to the narrative. There are only small tweaks in the art direction and production designs, and those are pertinent to the story being told. The cinematography offers an epic gandure to the appropriate tales, and become more focused and intense for the more intimate ones. Like any good science fiction tale they are utilized to impart a sense of beauty and wonder. In hindsight, you can’t help but recognize how judiciously they spent their budget to achieve this amazing look and feel to this independent film.

The majority of the talent is best known for their work in television and they do an excellent job selling the narrative. I feel as a viewer not having a familiarity with an actor’s work adds to the level of being immersed into a tale. Likewise, if the talent is not skilled in the craft it inhibits the viewer’s engagement. The cast for DOORS does an impressive job at helping the viewer to suspend their disbelief and go on this journey. They are able to ignite the viewer’s emotions, there by ramping up the tension and the drama. I was even surprised at how much I enjoyed the last tale given how I’m not a big fan of the format used to tell the story.

Enhancing the film’s overall depth of experience is the score by composer John Beltran. Working with the sound design, it captures the mood of each subplot and enhances the visuals. It runs the gamut of electronic to orchestral that reflects the nature of the tale. It’s not something that distracts from the film, just as a film score lover I fully appreciated his work and how it supports the elements of the film.

A good science fiction film is hard to pull off regardless of the story the filmmakers are trying to tell. It requires a herculean effort to muster all the elements to create a narrative that will draw a viewer in and have them embrace and believe what they encounter. DOORS is one of those compelling examples of an engaging narrative, talented filmmakers, seasoned actors, and just the right blend of costumes, production design, and visuals to take the viewer along for the journey. As an independent film it just falls short of being epic, but it comes pretty damn close. DOORS is a sci-fi journey well worth the ride.

CAST: Josh Peck, Lina Esco, Wilson Bethel, Kyp Malone, Dugan O’Neal, Kathy Khanh, Julianne Collins, Aric Generette Floyd, Rory Anne Dahl, Kristina Lear, Bira Vanara, Bailee Cowperthwaite, Darius Levanté, and David Hemphill CREW: Directors - Saman Kesh, Jeff Desom, and Dugan O’Neal; Creator - Chris White; Story - Saman Kesh & Chris White; Screenplay - Saman Kesh, Jeff Desom, Dugan O’Neal, Chris White, and Ed Hobbs; Producers - JD Lifshitz, Raphael Margules, Brad Miska, Chris White, Saman Kesh, and Kimberly Stuckwisch; Cinematographers - Todd Banhazl, John Schmidt, & Starr Whitesides; Score - John Beltran; Editors - Chris Coupland and Chad Van Horn; Production Designer - Jessica Garrison; OFFICIAL: N.A. FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/Doors-Movie-104130898391334 TWITTER: twitter.com/epic_pictures TRAILER: https://youtu.be/snMRw9uiYW8 RELEASE DATE: In Select Theaters on March 19th and On Demand on March 23rd + DVD/Blu-ray on April 6th, 2021

**Until we can all head back into the theaters our “COVID Reel Value” will be similar to how you rate a film on digital platforms - 👍 (Like), 👌 (It’s just okay),  or 👎 (Dislike)

Reviewed by Joseph B Mauceri