Golden Projects Welcomes Director Catherine Orchard
Golden Projects is excited to announce the addition of director Catherine Orchard to their production roster. Based out of New York City and Los Angeles, Catherine is a filmmaker who brings an artful eye and diverse experience in commercials, music videos, short film and still photography having collaborated with brands including Vogue, Apple, Citibank, Sephora, Clinique and more.
“Catherine’s name came up numerous times organically through mutual connections in the industry,” says Golden Projects founder Chris Ehrmann. “There’s a quiet confidence to her commercial work that I was really drawn to. From our first creative call, I was struck at how effortlessly she was able to articulate the client's needs and in turn create work that exceeded their expectations. That skill, combined with all of those shared relationships, really added to the feeling that we could be a good match for her.”
“One of the things that stood out about Golden Projects was their experience in both the film and photography worlds,” recalls Catherine. “In my search for commercial representation, an integrated production approach was important, as well as a shared sensibility and commitment to working in a thoughtful way with clients and collaborators we care about.”
Catherine first gained an interest in filmmaking after working as an intern for PBS producers. Following a few years as a designer in the editorial print world, she worked for numerous brands doing art direction, bringing a narrative eye to image making. After noticing the collective shift towards short form content, she made the decision to leap fully into a creative path in the commercial directing space.
“She has a really masterful way of developing an idea,” adds executive producer and head of production Natalie Warkenthien. “She’s also a good listener, which makes her an incredible creative partner in the fast paced world of branded content production.”
With a mission to build an integrated space in the production world, Golden Projects created a home for creatives to bring ideas to life. “My background is in photography so I know first hand how often photographers get steamrolled by production companies when they work on commercial sets,” Chris notes. “Client demand for integrated sets is not going away, so with Golden Projects we wanted to build a production company that embraces those needs and makes space for all kinds of creators to work collaboratively.”
“One of the most important principles in building this team from the ground up was crafting a team of kind people,” shares Natalie. “We set out to put our artists at the forefront and be as collaborative and supportive as possible. Working with talented people and finding ways to integrate our sets to deliver is always a priority but most of all we want to make it a great experience for everyone involved.”
Their most recent projects include a branding campaign for Saks Spring 23, which marks their seventh collaboration with the company to date. A first for Catherine, she directed and worked closely with copywriter Nick Marchese on scripts to bring a comedic flair to the spot. Golden Projects also looks forward to supporting Catherine as she makes progress filming her upcoming long form documentary observing wild horses, public land and the interconnected human relationships to both. The film has been in the works over the last seven years and will continue filming through the summer.
