Slo Graffiti, a division of Los Angeles-based Palomar Pictures, has signed director Robert B. Martin Jr., for commercial representation. Martin previously operated now-closed casting agency The Monkey Brothers with former partner Aaron Priest, who recently signed a deal to direct spots through bicoastal/international Partizan (see SHOOT, 12/1, p. 1)….Director Dean Karr and executive producers Arthur Gorson and Bernard Nussbaumer have launched The Mine, a Los Angeles-based music video and spot production house that will also feature a graphics department. Karr was previously repped by Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart, where Gorson was his producer. The Mine also reps director Christopher Salzegeber, who comes over from Shooting Star Pictures, Los Angeles, and Gorson expects to sign additional directors in the near future. Gorson and Nussbaumer are additionally partnered in Ventana Films, a Los Angeles-based feature film production company, which they formed in ’89….First Edition, New York, has been bought out by a group of five industry vets: a pair of former First Edition staffers, president Scott Holmgren and editor Tony Siggia; John Monte, formerly an editor at Ruff House Editorial, New York; Mitch Schreiber, previously an editor at Invisible Dog, New York; and Mac West, most recently a consultant at Madison Advertising Management, New York, and before that a producer at BBDO New York. First Edition was previously owned by Bobby Smalheiser and encompassed three entities, two of which have changed their names since the company’s sale was finalized on Nov. 30. The editorial shop, long known as First Edition, has become Steel Rose Editorial. The audio house Aural Fixation has a new moniker, Howling Trout Audio. And Splash Design continues to operate under the same banner.…Sue Wladar has joined wild(child) editorial, New York as executive producer…. Several production houses have decided to post their reels online through Planetpoint.com, gaining distribution in the Source Maythenyi database. They are: Partizan; Hollywood-based DNA; A Band Apart; and Santa Monica-based Backyard Productions. The Source Maythenyi and Planetpoint.com are divisions of Creative Planet, a Los Angeles-headquartered provider of technology services for the industry….
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More