Heidi Gottlieb and Doug Wedeck have amicably parted ways as partners in New York-based Single Bid. Wedeck will continue to head Single Bid, while Gottlieb is currently weighing her options. In the meantime, she will be working through her New York company, Realist….Computer Café, Santa Monica and Santa Maria, Calif., has signed Laura Zinn of New York-based Zinndependent for representation on the East Coast and Detroit, and Kelly Class of Class Represents, Marina del Rey, Calif., for Midwest sales…. Dallas-based rep firm Jack Reed Reps has been signed to represent Atlanta-based Comotion Films in Texas and the Southwest…. Sherman Oaks, Calif.-based Ambitious Entertainment has added director/cameraman Robert Crombie for worldwide representation….DPs Mike Maley and Bernard Auroux, and production designer Johannes Spalt, have signed with The Martins Agency, Santa Monica….Dana Locatell has joined creative digital studio R!OT, Santa Monica as national executive producer for new business. He was formerly at Creative Management Partners, bicoastal and Chicago, where he served as an account manager….
For Documentaries At Sundance, Oscar Nominations (and Wins) Often Follow
The Sundance Film Festival welcomed back three Oscar-winning documentary filmmakers to help kick off the annual independent film showcase in Park City, Utah.
On Thursday night at The Ray Theater, "20 Days in Mariupol" filmmaker Mstyslav Chernov, who won the Oscar last year, debuted his latest dispatch from Ukraine, "2000 Meters to Andriivka," a harrowing journey to the front lines of a 2023 counteroffensive. A few hours later, at the Eccles, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson, who won an Oscar for "Summer of Soul" in 2022, unveiled his Sly Stone portrait, "SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genuis)." Earlier, "One Day in September" filmmaker Kevin MacDonald also showcased his film "One to One: John & Yoko," which debuted last year at the Venice Film Festival and will get an IMAX release on April 11 before hitting Max later this year.
Some critics reflected that "2000 Meters to Andriivka," a joint production between The Associated Press and PBS Frontline, was even more powerful than "20 Days in Mariupol." "SLY LIVES!" (on Hulu Feb. 13) was called "sublime" and "illuminating" in its examination of an underappreciated, shapeshifting genius.
"I've been coming here since 2000 and I thought the coolest thing you could do would be to DJ an after party," Thompson said before the screening. "I never dreamt this for my future, so this is really humbling."
It was a full-circle end to a day that began with a slate of documentary Oscar nominations all connected to the Sundance Institute in some way. Some were supported by the Institute, some debuted at the festival as recently as last year.
"Black Box Diaries," in which a Japanese filmmaker investigates her own sexual assault, had its premiere in Park City last year and was supported by the... Read More