Director Anouk Besson has come aboard bicoastal Celsius Films. She had most recently been represented by bicoastal Epoch Films….Director Marc Chiat has returned to Green Dot Films, Santa Monica. Chiat had previously maintained his own Red Dog Films, Santa Monica, for commercials….Director Matthijs Van Heijningen has signed with bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander (MJZ) for U.S. representation. The helmer is best known for "The Sculptor," a Peugeot spot out of Euro RSCG Mezzano Constantini Mignani, Milan, Italy, which scored a Gold Lion, as well as the Journalist’s Award, at the 2003 Cannes International Advertising Festival. Additionally, director Nicolai Fuglsig is now available via MJZ for stateside spotwork….Director Des Mullan of Rocket Productions, Dublin, has signed with Santa Monica-based BeachHouse Films for U.S. representation….New York-based Cine/ DRSA International has signed directors Luca Lucini and Mauro Salesi for U.S. spotwork. Both directors are based in Milan….Director Giaco Angelini and producer Esther Campbell have joined Velocity Films, Rivonia, South Africa, for exclusive representation worldwide….Two London production houses, Stark Films and Spectre, are set to merge, forming a single entity called Large. Bertie Miller, the head of Spectre, and Stephen Gash and Cathy Green, who’ve overseen Stark, will comprise the management team for Large, which maintains a combined roster of directors for Europe that includes Daniel Kleinman, Jeff Stark, Anthony Easton, Jon Greenhalgh, John Lloyd, Colin Gregg, Simon Green, Enda McCallion, Dominic Savage, Sandra Goldbacher and newcomers Simon Cracknell and the duo of Tash and Tanya….Director Gore Verbinski is back at bicoastal Anonymous Content following the release of box office hit Pirates of the Caribbean. He figures to have about a six-month window of spot availability via Anonymous….Editor David Cornman has joined Post Factory, New York. He was previously with The Blue Rock Editing Company, New York….Rhonda Moore has been named executive producer at Mad River Post, Dallas. She relocated from Los Angeles, where she worked as a TV writer/producer….Editor Jason Painter, formerly of Swietlik, Santa Monica, has come aboard Jigsaw, Los Angeles…. Michael Peterson, who had been freelancing in recent months at Venice, Calif.-based visual effects house Sight Effects, has come on staff as a Flame/ Inferno artist….Colin Stackpole, a lead Inferno artist at Quiet Man, New York, has struck out on his own, launching Brandname, a visual effects boutique in New York. He is teamed in the new venture with another Quiet Man alumnus, 2-D designer Patrick Lavin….
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