Adrian Picardi (born April 1987) is an American filmmaker originally from South Pasadena'','' California. Picardi graduated from
South Pasadena High School
South Pasadena High School (SPHS or "South Pas") is the one public high school serving grades 9–12 in the city of South Pasadena, California. With the South Pasadena Middle School and three elementary schools (Arroyo Vista, Marengo, and Montere ...
in 2005, and went on to graduate from the
Los Angeles Film School
The Los Angeles Film School (informally LA Film School) is a for-profit college in Los Angeles, California, offering associate and bachelor's degrees in majors relating to the entertainment industry. The school encompasses the Los Angeles Record ...
in 2006. His professional career began after creating the television series ''The Resistance'' for the STARZ / SyFy Network. The series was produced by
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...
's
Ghost House Pictures
Ghost House Pictures is an American film and television production company founded in 2002 by Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert. It produces horror films such as '' The Grudge'', '' 30 Days of Night'', '' Drag Me to Hell'', '' Evil Dead'' and '' Don' ...
. Currently, Picardi runs a production company named Aureus Grex, based out of
Glendale, California
Glendale is a city located primarily in the Verdugo Mountains region, with a small portion in the San Fernando Valley, of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is located about north of downtown Los Angeles.
As of 2024, Glendale ha ...
and is represented under Brawler. Picardi has helmed commercial spots for
PlayStation
is a video gaming brand owned and produced by Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE), a division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. Its flagship products consists of a series of home video game consoles produced under the brand; it also consists ...
,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
,
Xbox
Xbox is a video gaming brand that consists of four main home video game console lines, as well as application software, applications (games), the streaming media, streaming service Xbox Cloud Gaming, and online services such as the Xbox networ ...
, and
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo Clancy Jr. (April 12, 1947 – October 1, 2013) was an American novelist. He is best known for his technically detailed espionage and military science, military-science storylines set during and after the Cold War. Seventeen of ...
's ''The Division''.
Biography
Career
Picardi graduated from the
Los Angeles Film School
The Los Angeles Film School (informally LA Film School) is a for-profit college in Los Angeles, California, offering associate and bachelor's degrees in majors relating to the entertainment industry. The school encompasses the Los Angeles Record ...
in 2006 at the age of 19 and jumped into the industry as an editor for Television. Picardi continued to pursue his directing career by independently producing his own projects. In 2007, Picardi created a short film called "His Day to Remember," which was the Grand Prize Winner in the Cinematic Film2Music online competition. Using the raw, percussive chant-driven track "Steel & Sky," he created a visually compelling drama about a young man who is apparently a suicide bomber.
The film was also screened at the
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
2007 and got him featured on MTVu.com as "Best Filmmaker on Campus" in December 2007. Additionally, In 2007, he won the "Audience Award" for Myspace's
John Woo
John Woo Yu-sen ( zh, t= ; born 22 September 1946) is a Hongkongers, Hong Kong film director known as a highly influential figure in the action film genre. The recipient of various accolades, including a Hong Kong Film Awards, Hong Kong Film Award ...
Film Tribute contest for the
Chow Yun-fat
Chow Yun-fat (born 18 May 1955), previously known as Donald Chow, is a Hong Kong actor and filmmaker. Known for his versatility, encompassing action to melodrama and comedy and historical drama, his accolades include three Hong Kong Film Awar ...
videogame "Stranglehold". For his second short, "His Final Hit", it placed into the top ten finalists of the IFC Film "Assassin's Creed" Film Contest.
Soon after, Picardi and his team created a low-budget web series called "The Resistance" which started off as 4 short online teasers featured on
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
. Before filming the actual web show, the series was picked up by
Sam Raimi
Samuel M. Raimi ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American filmmaker. He is best known for directing the first three films in the ''Evil Dead'' franchise (1981–present) and the ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007). He also directed the super ...
’s Ghost House Pictures and
Starz Media
Starz Distribution, formerly IDT Entertainment from 2003 to 2006 and Starz Media from 2006 to 2013, is an American television production, distribution, and syndication company and the distribution arm of Starz Inc., a subsidiary of Starz Ente ...
, after executives at
Starz
Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...
and Ghost House viewed "The Resistance" teasers online. The web show aired on October 4, 2010, on the
SyFy channel as a one-hour television pilot along with being released in its original 8 episodic form on
iTunes
iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
,
Xbox Live
The Xbox network, formerly known and commonly referred to as Xbox Live, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Gaming for the Xbox brand. It was first made available to the origina ...
, and the
PlayStation Network
PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...
. "The Resistance" is executive produced by
Ben Ketai
Benjamin Ketai is an Americans, American filmmaker. He directed and wrote the following Ghost House Pictures productions: ''30 Days of Night: Dark Days'' and the webseries ''30 Days of Night: Dust to Dust''.
Career
In 2010, the SyFy Channel ...
, Scott Bayless, Scott Rogers, with producers Aaron Lam, and Associate Producer
Don Le. The pilot will reportedly make history, as it's the first time a series created originally for the web will first premiere on television.
Picardi won the
Universal Music
Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...
/
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
online music video contest hosted by Talenthouse, for the band ERA, . He also took home the Grand Prize award for
the New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
best-selling author
Scott Sigler
Scott Carl Sigler is an American author of science fiction and Horror fiction, horror and a podcaster. Scott is a ''The New York Times, New York Times'' No. 1 bestselling author of twenty novels, six novellas, dozens of short stories, and thousan ...
’s "Ancestor" film contest. He also wrapped two more music videos, one for the band Automatic Love Letter and
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
/
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony
is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...
, and another for the band Evans Blue.
2012–present
In 2012, Picardi and Airsoft GI created a fan film based on the videogame series
Left 4 Dead
''Left 4 Dead'' is a 2008 first-person shooter game developed by Valve South and published by Valve. It was originally released for Windows and Xbox 360 in November 2008 and for Mac OS X in October 2010, and is the first title in the '' Left 4 ...
. Within 4 days of releasing the initial teaser, the clip amassed over 2.5 million views and massive buzz online, including outlets such as PC Gamer, Complex, Game Informer, and Valve (creators of the game itself).
In early 2013, Picardi created the production company Aureus Grex alongside his long time best friend, Sunny Jain.
In 2016, Aureus Grex and
Corridor Digital
Corridor Digital LLC is an American independent production studio based in Los Angeles, known for creating pop-culture-related viral online short-form videos since 2010, as well as producing and directing the ''Battlefield''-inspired web series ...
teamed up to release a series of live-action spots for
Ubisoft
Ubisoft Entertainment SA (; ; formerly Ubi Soft Entertainment SA) is a French video game publisher headquartered in Saint-Mandé with development studios across the world. Its video game franchises include '' Anno'', '' Assassin's Creed'', ' ...
and
Tom Clancy's The Division
''Tom Clancy's The Division'' is a 2016 online-only action role-playing video game developed by Massive Entertainment and published by Ubisoft. It was released on 8 March for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is set in a near ...
entitled ''Agent Origins''. Picardi directed, shot, and edited three of the four episodes titled ''Escape'', ''Ashes'', and ''Conspiracies''.
Currently, Picardi is developing two feature films, as well as a project with
Warner Brother's digital arm, Blue Ribbon Content.
Filmography
References
External links
*
Company Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Picardi, Adrian
Living people
1987 births
Filmmakers from California