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Minerva signs Happy Friday Pictures
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Minerva signs Happy the new production company launched despite the threat of Gen AI.
Happy Friday announces their opening of business operations, using words like curated, bespoke, and renowned, in hopes agency creatives still use Google to search for directors.
Minerva, the repping company led by Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin and now including Victoria Venantini, has signed on to partner with founders/executive producers Jim Huie and Nick Pitcavage for national representation.
Undeterred by AI, tariffs, wildfires and corporate philistinism, Pitcavage and Huie have responded to the collapse of commercial production by opening a commercial production company. The duo have been EP partners for a decade. Having survived staff jobs at both agencies and production companies, they remain fiercely optimistic about the future of advertising.
“We’ve risked all the equity we have in our careers and homes to launch this company as independent owner/operators,” says Pitcavage, “If this is indeed a race to the bottom, I’ve got a huge advantage having spent my entire career there already.”
As agencies and brands increase their internal capabilities, modern production companies struggle to find a footing in the process. Happy Friday doubles down on the old school moviemaking-craft side of the business.
“We definitely won’t use AI in any of our commercial processes… unless you're looking for an AI-specialty director. If that’s the case, I have these three reels for you to consider,” postulates Huie.
Happy Friday Pictures officially launched in September of this year, with a list of directors they blackmailed into joining them; featuring Dean Blumberg, Martians, Josh Forbes, Erik Curtis, Lindsey Gaal, Morgan Gruer, Rob Boocheck, Johnny Andow and André Robert Lee.
