Commercial Director Nicolai Fuglsig Sets Up Real-Time Thriller Brass Monkey At Paramount

Several acclaimed filmmakers -- from David Fincher and Spike Jonze to Michel Gondry and Gore Verbinski -- got their start on commercials and music videos. Nicolai Fuglsig’s would like to join them.

The director pitched Brass Monkey to Paramount, and hopes to make it his feature-film debut, according to Deadline. The story, conceived by Fuglsig and Paolo Marinou-Blanco, is set in real-time, where someone is on a killing spree in Los Angeles. The tagline atop an action-packed teaser poster Fuglsig created for his studio pitch says, “One man’s last shot at justice.” Yet on it, you can see one man holding a hypodermic needle, another looking through a rifle scope, two figures dangling from a helicopter, an ambulance, some people running … and this is all on the poster!

Fuglsig, 37, started as a photojournalist before transitioning into commercials. He’s in the running for a futuristic take on the classic Robin Hood tale, though I wonder if that will go on the backburner now that Paramount’s interested in Brass Monkey. And if you are interested in getting a sneak peek at Fuglsig’s style, here are his two most-recognized commercials:

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.