Arts & Sciences Signs Director Natalie Prisco

Award-winning comedy writer and director Natalie Prisco has signed with Arts & Sciences for commercial representation. Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based, and Brooklyn-spiritually speaking, Nat brings to Arts & Sciences her sharp sense of humour and a propensity for crafting comedy from the awkward, uncomfortable, in-between moments her characters inhabit. The resulting work is a deft mix of the absurd and surreal, featuring deadpan humour and flawed, offbeat characters that pop off the screen. 

Nat’s director origin story begins with dropping out of NYU to pursue a career in advertising as a copywriter at McCann. She soon fell in love with filmmaking and set her sights on directing, taking a job at MTV with the hope of directing everything she wrote. It was a smart bet; within the year, she had directed award-winning campaigns for The VMAs and The MTV Movie Awards. Her other accolades include several Grand Clios and Webby Awards for her commercial work and being named Female Director of the Year by someone in Chicago (fact check this). 

Nat has directed multiple high-profile campaigns with celebrity talents like Reese Witherspoon, Amy Schumer, Elizabeth Banks, J.B. Smoove, and a mini-movie for KFC starring Mario Lopez as a libidinous Colonel Sanders; and collaborated with many other brands, including White Claw, AT&T, Lifetime, BJ’s, and Big Lots. Nat’s experience in branded filmmaking came into play for the award-winning web series COMMERCIALS, which she wrote and directed, lambasting the commercial-making business, except for anyone reading this. 

Mal Ward, managing director and partner at Arts & Sciences, says of its newest rostered director, “Nat keys into these fully realised idiosyncratic, odd characters and lets them take the wheel. The result is something so funny and uncomfortably true to life. She’s an incredible filmmaker, and we’re very pleased to have her on board with us.”

Nat’s short films have premiered at the Austin Film Festival, Chicago International Film Festival, and LA Film Festival, where her latest short, 'The Hostage,' starring Annie Mumolo, won Best Comedy. She recently sold a half-hour comedy to HBO and a feature screenplay to Speck + Gordon. She is currently in development on her feature directorial debut with an action-comedy produced by Paul Feig.

“I’m so happy to find a home at Arts & Sciences, whose great taste and values are so harmonious with my own,” says Nat. “I’m extremely collaborative and just want the funniest idea to win. They totally get that and champion that. I look forward to making great work together.”