Director/DP Will Van der Vlugt has launched Caramel Pictures, Miami, as his U.S. production roost. The company will also handle helmers Keith English and Eddy Abon stateside. Van der Vlugt maintains his Will Van der Vlugt Film Productions, Amsterdam, for European work….Director Tim Greenberg has joined Park Pictures, New York….Editor Charlie Cusumano, formerly of ChicKönKey, New York, has joined Red Car, New York. Additionally, editor Keith James, who had been at charlieuniformtango, Dallas, has come aboard Red Car, Dallas….Eastman Kodak Company, headquartered in Rochester, N.Y., hosted a "Salute to Music Video Cinematography" luncheon last week in Los Angeles, during which it honored MTV Music Video Award nominees for cinematography: Jeff Cronenweth, ASC ("The Voice Within" and "It’s My Life"), Shawn Kim ("Maps"), James Hawkinson ("Naughty Girl") and Joaquin Baca-Asay ("99 Problems"). Baca-Asay won the award Sunday night. Also, Kodak honored the Music Video Producers Association (MVPA) for its commitment to the art of music videos. MVPA president Pam Tarr accepted the award on behalf of the organization….Seventeenfortyone, the design and production division of Hollywood-based entertainment advertising agency Trailer Park, announced a partnership with TV and feature postproduction house Modern VideoFilm, also Hollywood, whereby Modern will provide postproduction services for Seventeenfortyone’s commercial and shortform work….Designer Ian Lynam and art director Nico Ammann have joined 86theonions, a Venice, Calif.-based brand communications collective….Director Gordon Clark has joined Velocity Afrika, Cape Town and Johannesburg….
Breakout Films and Major Takeaways From This Year’s Sundance Fest
Film wasn't the only thing on people's minds at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( and online ).
The effects of the wildfires in Southern California loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be the second to last Sundance based in Park City. Some films offered an escape from reality; others were a pointed reminder of the domestic and international political landscape, from transgender rights to the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the 41st edition of the festival.
The effects of the Southern California fires were deeply felt
The wildfires were still burning in parts of Los Angeles when Sundance began last week and reminders of its devastation were everywhere, even on screen. Max Walker-Silverman's "Rebuilding," starring Josh O'Connor as a cowboy who loses his ranch in a wildfire and forms a community with fellow survivors in a FEMA camp, hit close to home for many.
Filmmakers Meena Menon and Paul Gleason lost their home in Altadena where they filmed some of their zombie apocalypse movie "Didn't Die." Sundance artist labs head Michelle Satter lost her Palisades home as well. Satter had an audience of Sundance Institute donors in tears early in the festival while accepting an honor at a fundraising gala.
"It's a deeply devastating time for us and so many others, a moment that calls for all of us coming together to support our bigger community," Satter said. "As a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, 'Take a deep breath ... We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.'"
The festival's move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic... Read More