Acclaimed writer/director Benjamin Dickinson’s second feature film Creative Control hits select theaters in Los Angeles, Austin and New York on March 11 with a nationwide release March 18. The mesmerizing science fiction satire first screened at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival, where it was met with rave reviews and the Special Jury prize for visual excellence. Amazon Studios acquired the movie and is working with Magnolia Pictures to distribute it theatrically.
Set in New York in a technology-dominated society that's right around the corner, Creative Control is an edgy eye-opener about an overworked ad exec named David (played by Dickinson) who is working on a high-profile campaign for a new generation of Augmented Reality glasses. Things go horribly awry when David uses the glasses to conduct an affair with an avatar of Sophie, his best friend’s girlfriend, and the line between reality and virtual reality begins to blur.
“This abstraction of desire is the central concern of my film,” remarks Dickinson. “My characters occupy a clean, tasteful, post-gentrified Brooklyn; they play artists in the business of advertising, fashion, and technology, where desire is manufactured, packaged, and sold for big money. They experience their lives, and each other, from behind screens. Like in 60's Antonioni, everything looks great but something's missing.”
Creative Control marks a big step forward for Dickinson, who also starred in his debut feature, First Winter, which premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.
Dickinson cut his teeth directing music videos for artists such as LCD Soundsystem and The Rapture and has since made videos for Q-Tip, Yoko Ono & Reggie Watts. Transitioning into commercials, Dickinson has since helmed spots for major global brands including Google, Southwest Airlines, Puma, Cartier, and Ford.
About his undoubtedly diversified reel, Dickinson says, “Ghost Robot presents the opportunity to focus equally on commercial work and filmic content with a generous amount of crossover between the two creatively. In both cases, our thinking is often way out of the box and creatively inclusive.”
Creative Control further demonstrates Ghost Robot’s experimental flair led by executive producers and partners Zach Mortensen and Mark DePace. Primarily a commercial production, Ghost Robot also creates a unique blend between branded content and feature and short films. Their work ranges from traditional to far out including visual effects and animation as seen in “Fly Robot, Fly” for IKEA, short films such as "The Sucklord" and “Super Slueths,” branded content films such as Red Bull's "Revolutions on Air" and commercials like TiVO's latest broadcast campaign.
Creative Credits:
Director: Benjamin Dickinson
Writers: Benjamin Dickinson & Micah Bloomberg
Producers: Craig Shilowich & Roscher
Ghost Robot Producers: Mark De Pace & Zachary Mortensen
Executive Producers: Cameron Brodie, Greg Stewart, Emily Wiedemann
Cinematography: Adam Newport-Berra
Editors: Megan Brooks & Andrew Hasse
Sound Design: Paul Hsu
Music: Dražen Bošnjak
Production Design: John Furgason
Costume Design: Gina Correll
Design, Visual Effects, and Animation: Mathematic, Paris
Line Producer: Aidan Sleeper
Unit Production Manager: Alexandra Byer
First Assistant Director: Josh Hartsoe
Second Assistant Director: Jeremy Westphal
Casting By: Eve Battaglia, CSA
Art Director: Katie Hickman
Set Decorator: Erin Beaupre