Princess Grace Award-winning Writer/Director/Curator Miranda Haymon Joins O Positive for Commercials
By Egotist / /
O Positive welcomes Miranda Haymon, a Princess Grace Award-winning writer, director and curator, and Roundabout Theatre Company resident director, to the company for commercial representation. The news was announced today by O Positive director/partner David Shane.
An ascendant theatre talent, Haymon’s recent credits include “Really Really Gorgeous” at The Tank, “In the Penal Colony” at The Tank, Next Door @ NYTW and “Mondo Tragic” at The National Black Theatre. Along the way, Haymon paired up with Shane to direct a piece he had written for the stage. The two of them immediately struck up a kinship over their mutual love of stories and acting, with Shane floating the idea of them directing commercials. As he watched Haymon direct his work, Shane recalled with a laugh that he kept thinking, “Oh, that’s how you direct!”
Haymon is now blazing a path in commercials. They initially shadowed Shane on several commercial shoots before shifting to directing their own ads for Dunkin’ and Spectrum with Shane on set to advise when needed.
Haymon’s first brand film was for Gucci. “A Cakewalk” was commissioned by Garage magazine and playwright/producer Jeremy O. Harris. It uses Gucci’s Fall 2020 collection with an ensemble of talent cycling through a processional, a parade, a funeral, a carnival, a ball and a ritual to explore the current state of mind for BIPOC during Covid-19.
While directing commercials and directing live theatre are distinctive disciplines, there is plenty of common ground, Haymon explained. “The process of making a commercial and the process of making a play are radically different because of how the story will be distributed to an audience,” Haymon said. “But commercials and theater are time-based art forms; they rely on timing, rhythm and tempo. Both are focused on harnessing the power of light, sound and other elements of design such as art and scenic direction. And they both have several entry points in terms of POV and relationship to the audience. It’s just that our entry point in commercials is through the lens of a camera, and in theater it’s the naked eye.”
“For someone who doesn’t have tons of experience directing for screen, Miranda brings so many skill sets to bear,” commented Shane. “They’ve obviously worked with a wide breadth of actors, they’ve worked with production designers in the design and building of sets, they know lighting and color temperature. Miranda has an innate sense of story and an eye for the little moments of behavior that make something so watchable. They’re also used to collaborating – Miranda’s bubbling with ideas but is always open to the ideas of others. I hate to say this, but if there is one small ray of sunshine from the world of theater disintegrating around Miranda for a year, it’s that they finally had some bandwidth to think about directing other stuff. It’s funny, I spent months picking their brain about directing for theater and now it’s a little bit the other way around.”
A proud Bostonian and a graduate of Wesleyan University, Haymon’s based in New York City where they are an active part of the theatre community. In recent years, Miranda directed acclaimed productions for New York Theatre Workshop, The Tank, National Black Theatre and many others, partaken in readings and workshops at The Public Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club and Roundabout Theatre Company, and was even the associate director of an opera at Lincoln Center Theater. American Theatre included them in their feature “Meet the Leaders Who Are Already Reshaping The Field.” Miranda is a frequent moderator and panelist, and their critical writing and interviews have been featured in Howlround, iWeigh, The Brooklyn Rail and more. For more information, visit: mirandahaymon.com
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