Director Bob Richardson is joining bicoastal Tool of North America….Chris Hafner has entered into an agreement to direct music videos via Culver City, Calif.-headquartered 8Media. Hafner, who will also be available to helm select commercials, continues as a spots/clips editor at Brass Knuckles, Venice, Calif….COO Tom Block has added the title of president at New York-headquartered IllusionFusion!, the parent to such firms as the Click 3X facilities (New York, Santa Monica, Atlanta and Construct/Click 3X, San Francisco), and New York-based audio design/post facility Sound Lounge. Block became IllusionFusion! COO in April. He formerly served as executive VP/COO of Ingalls, Quinn & Johnson, Boston. Meanwhile IllusionFusion! CEO Peter Corbett has vacated that post and become the company’s chairman of the board….Nancy Fishelson is leaving her position as president/exec. producer at bicoastal Bedford Falls. She will, however, remain with the company in a consultant’s capacity, taking on special projects. Fishelson made the move to focus on a pursuit outside the industry, the re-design of existing homes which she’s been doing successfully as a sideline for the past couple of years…. Commercial director Marshall Stone died of a heart attack at the age of 68 on Saturday, Dec. 11. An ex-Marine, Stone became a prominent director during the ’60 and ’70s working at now defunct production house MPO Videotronics….Exec producers Liz Silver and Luke Thornton are ready to Believe—that’s the moniker of the bicoastal production house they plan to open next month…. Exec. producer John Clark has launched Boxer Films, L.A. Clark formerly headed Culver City, Calif.-basedminus 30 Films. Word is that coming over to Boxer with Clark are formerminus 30 directors Jeff Kaumeyer, Andrew Becker, Jim Zoolalian and Justin Klarenbeck. At press time, a definitive bottom line was not available on the status ofminus 30 directors Peter Kovacs, Rene Eram and Natasha Uppal. SHOOT received conflicting info as to whether those directors were staying at their present roost, moving to Boxer or going elsewhere….Warner Bros., Burbank, has agreed to sell most of its Warner Hollywood Studios to BA Studios for an estimated $65 million. The deal encompasses the stages and offices on the 13-acre Warner Hollywood lot. When the acquisition is finalized, Warner Hollywood Studios will become known as The Lot. BA Studios is owned by real estate investment firms Skye Partners and Blackacre Capital. Plans call for Skye Partners to be responsible for the day to day operation of The Lot. Skye Partners recently completed the renovation of The Ten9Fifty Studios, Culver City….Rusty Ford, exec. producer at New York-based Cabana, has left the company…Russian Hill Recording has closed the San Francisco audio facility bearing its name and consolidated that operation into the company’s Crescendo! Studios…..Minneapolis-headquartered iNTELEFILM has teamed with Excalibur Technologies Corp., Vienna, Va., and AT&T Corp. to launch intelesource.org, a Web-based digitized video storage and retrieval system. Intelesource encodes TV spots with specific searchable criteria (i.e., ISCI Codes, clients, products, directors, producers, creatives), helping global ad agencies and their clients manage and retrieve assets from their video libraries. Additionally, iNTELEFILM will utilize the AT&T/Excalibur technologies in an intranet application among its families of companies and their offices in the U.S. and overseas—including bicoastal Curious Pictures; bicoastal/international The End; bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures, and New York-based Populuxe Pictures….. Henry artist John Scheer has joined 525 Studios, Santa Monica….
“Emilia Pérez” Wins Big At Césars, With Under-Fire Karla Sofia Gascón In Attendance
Oscar contender "Emilia Pérez" was named the best French film of the year at the Césars awards — France's equivalent of the Oscars — and under-fire Karla Sofia Gascón, the star of Jacques Audiard's Mexico-set melodrama, made a rare public appearance.
The musical is one of the most celebrated films of the year but has also been criticized for its depiction of Mexican culture and engulfed in controversy because of Gascón's previous social media posts disparaging Muslims, George Floyd and diversity at the Oscars.
Although Gascón, who was nominated in the best actress category along with her co-star Zoe Saldaña, did not win a César, the night in Paris was triumphal for "Emilia Pérez," which swept seven trophies.
Audiard, who previously condemned Gascón's comments, thanked his "marvelous team" and his female actors.
"When I say my team it's not in the sense of ownership, but a declaration of love," he said. "The same goes for the actresses. My darling Zoe, my darling Karla, Adriana (Paz) who is not here, Selena (Gomez) who is not here. I loved working with you, I love you."
Old posts from Gascon's X account resurfaced in January, some going as far back as 2016, that took aim at Muslims' dress, language and culture in her native Spain. She also suggested that Islam be banned. And less than a month after George Floyd, a Black man, was killed by a white Minneapolis police officer in 2020, Gascón offered her assessment of Floyd — whose death prompted widespread reckoning with police brutality and racism — as a drug addict who "very few people ever cared" for.
Gascón, who stars as the titular transgender ex-cartel boss in "Emilia Pérez," has withdrawn from promoting the film, which has 13 Oscar nominations.... Read More