NOVEMBER 11, 1994
Director/cameraman Bill Timmer has departed London-based and bicoastal BFCS to sign with Industrial Light + Magic (ILM) Commercial Productions, San Rafael, Calif., for exclusive spot representation. Timmer cited ILM’s proximity to his San Francisco home as the reason for the move….Director/cameraman Michael Werk has joined the commercial/communications shop See Company, Santa Monica. He ends a seven-year tenure with bicoastal/international Spots Films….Director Hank Benson has joined Boss Film Studios, Marina del Rey, Calif., for exclusive commercial representation. He had most recently been handled by bicoastal Crossroads….
NOVEMBER 10, 1989
Ed Bianchi, who is set to direct the comedy/thriller feature Paradise Paved, is closing his five-year-old spot roost, Bianchi Films…. Jonathan Slater has been named VP/director of broadcast production at Grey Advertising, San Francisco. He returns to the agency side after a stint as senior producer/director of marketing at Magic Vista Studios, San Francisco…. After a two-year run with Elite Films, New York, director/cameraman David Griffiths has joined Luckafilm, New York….McCann-Erickson, Los Angeles, has named Art Wright senior broadcast producer. Wright had been freelance producing at various production shops, including Fred Levinson Productions and Coppos Films….
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More