Hal Dantzler has joined TM Advertising, Dallas, as director of broadcast production….Director Bill Bindley has signed with Trio Films, Venice, Calif., for spot representation….Director James Gartner of bicoastal production house GARTNER is currently in the midst of helming the new Jerry Bruckheimer feature Glory Road for Disney. This is part of a three-picture deal, with GARTNER having a first look option on each of the films….Joseph J. Di Buono, who had been with Unitel Video, New York, for almost two decades over two separate periods of time, passed away from cancer on June 19. Di Buono joined Unitel as sales director in 1972 and moved in ’79 to Reeves Teletape, New York, where he served as the company’s VP marketing for five years. In ’85, he returned to Unitel where he held the title of VP, director corporate marketing. Di Buono also had stints with several other companies including Reeves Actron, Video Tape Center and NBC Telesales….Accel-KKR, a Menlo Park, Calif.-based technology-focused private equity firm, the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan and Alias’ management have completed their acquisition of Toronto-headquartered 3-D graphics software firm Alias from Silicon Graphics Inc., Mountain View, Calif., for $57.5 million. The deal was originally announced during the NAB confab a couple of months ago (SHOOT, 4/23, p. 1)….Writer/producer Michael "Lofey" Sandloafer has joined bicoastal music shop JSM….L.A. area houses V12 and Panopoly Pictures are merging their respective design and production departments to form Full Circle, a shop that will provide live-action production, branding motion graphic design and animation to clients in the feature, commercial and broadcast markets….
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