London-headquartered The Mill has exited the feature film arena, and has refocused the technology and resources of Mill Film on commercials….Tony Robins, part of the team that launched visual effects facility Spontaneous Combustion, New York, has left his creative director post to pursue feature film directing and screenwriting. A search is currently underway to secure his replacement….Julie Shevach has exited her post as head of production for visual effects shop Black Logic, New York. No successor has been named.… Dark Light Pictures, Hollywood, has signed director Penelope Spheeris for spot representation. Spheeris’ credits include the features Suburbia, Wayne’s World and The Beverly Hillbillies….Director Jon Kane has returned to the spotworld via cYclops, New York, after working as the film editor and visual designer on the recently released feature Naqoyaqatsi, directed by Godfrey Reggio…. Comedy director Wez Werrin, an Australian who recently relocated to London, has signed with Santa Monica-based Area 51 Films for exclusive representation in the U.S…Director Daniel Kaufman, who was honored in the AICP Show spec spot category this year for Post Cereal’s "Cats in the Cradle," has joined Public Domain, the New York-headquartered shop headed by executive producer Steve Shore.…Director Kevin Bourland and bicoastal Treat have parted ways….Partners Don Faller, Nate Crooker and Brian Jackson have launched double wide media, a spot production shop in New York. The company launches with a roster consisting of director/DP Ed Lachman, the directorial team the GoodGuys (Crooker and Jackson), animator/director Mac Premo, and still photographer/documentarian Josh Rothstein….Upon wrapping principal photography on his feature Torque, director Joseph Kahn has jumped back into commercials and music videos via SuperMega, a Los Angeles-based shop which is a joint venture between the helmer and Palomar Pictures….
London Critics Name “The Brutalist” The Film of the Year
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s immigrant saga, won the Film of the Year prize at the 45th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
While The Brutalist garnered just one award, it was the marquee honor. Meanwhile Nickel Boys, Conclave and A Real Pain all receivd multiple awards, and Zoe Saldaña was honored twice.
Edward Berger’s Vatican thriller Conclave took two awards for British/Irish Film of the Year and Actor of the Year for Ralph Fiennes, while RaMell Ross’s radical Colson Whitehead adaptation Nickel Boys was recognized with Director of the Year and the Technical Achievement Award for Jomo Fray’s first-person cinematography. Jesse Eisenberg’s dark comedy A Real Pain was the night’s other multiple prizewinner, landing Screenwriter of the Year for the actor-filmmaker, and Supporting Actor of the Year for co-star Kieran Culkin.
Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai-set drama All We Imagine as Light was named Foreign Language Film of the Year, while the Palestinian-Israeli collective behind No Other Land took Documentary of the Year.
Alongside Conclave, British productions awarded by the Circle in the top categories included Mike Leigh’s intimate character study Hard Truths, which took Actress of the Year for Marianne Jean-Baptiste, while Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was named Animated Feature of the Year. In the British/Irish-specific categories, Saoirse Ronan won British/Irish Performer of the Year for her performances in The Outrun and Blitz, 14-year-old Nykiya Adams won Young British/Irish Performer of the Year for her screen debut in Andrea Arnold’s Bird, and Rich Peppiatt won the... Read More