Truce Films has begun 2019 with a very clever signing. Filmmaker, Bec Peniston-Bird, stepped into the spotlight first with her short film, Summer Suit, which made its European premiere at the 63rd Berlin International Film Festival, won Best Film at the Sydney Mardi Gras Film Festival, was screened at Flickerfest, Berlin International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Slamdance, Oberhausen Film Festival, Provincetown Film Festival, the Portugal Curtas Vila do Conde Film Festival, the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival, the L.A. Women’s Film Festival and the Melbourne International Film Festival as part of MIFF’s Accelerator Shorts programs.
Truce Films’ head of production, Michael Ciccone, commented, “It’s a real coup for us to be able to bring a director of Bec’s calibre on to the roster. From what we have seen already, clients love her and respond to her enthusiasm for collaboration. Her experience across both short and long form content proves she has a lot to offer, and that flexibility is something we see as important in this evolving landscape.”
Bec Peniston-Bird
Peniston-Bird has created original content for Chunky Move Dance Company, Melbourne Theatre Company, National Gallery of Victoria, Lonely Planet TV and MTV, as well as directing TVCs for a wide range of commercial clients. She also brings her background in visual arts and music to Truce, from Renegade Films where she has written and directed both TVCs and documentaries for the last several years. Her documentaries include Keith Haring Uncovered for ABC Television and Nick Cave: Abusing The Muse, which premiered at Melbourne International Film Festival.
In 2017 she undertook a four-month writer/director placement on the Spierig Brothers’ period thriller, Winchester , starring Helen Mirren. In 2018, she was one of three Australian filmmakers to be selected for Berlinale Talent Campus, the prestigious talent escalator of Berlin International Film Festival.
Peniston-Bird was recently shortlisted for the 2019 Sundance Writers Lab for her feature screenplay, Petrova, a Cold War thriller set in 1950s Canberra. The project won an Australian Writers Guild’s Insite Award last year and is being developed with funding from Screen Australia. In 2018 also, she collaborated with Truce on the water safety commercial, Think Again, for the State Government Victoria. The commercial was released over the summer holidays.
https://youtu.be/Zrx8kwbRKdQ
She commented, “The Truce team are such a joy to work with. Creatively, we share a passion for telling stories which intrigue and entertain, always keeping the end-viewer front and centre. I love the rigour that goes with commercials directing and am looking forward to doing more of this in 2019.”
To work with Bec Peniston-Bird, call Michael Ciccone on 0412125433 or email.
View Peniston-Bird’s commercial and narrative work here.