Feature filmmaker Steven Shainberg–whose credits include the Sundance Special Jury Prize-winning Secretary starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader-has secured spot representation in North America, signing with Saville Productions, the Beverly Hills-based house headed by executive producer Rupert Maconick. Shainberg is no stranger to commercials, having helmed spots for such clients as Chanel, the Florida Lottery and Miller beer. Shainberg's latest movie, Fur, is based on the life of noted photographer Diane Arbus who committed suicide in 1971. The film, which stars Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr., is slated for release in November…..Hamish Rothwell, a comedy director from Australia, has joined Santa Monica-based TWC for U.S. spot representation….Nick Law has been promoted to chief creative officer, North America, for agency R/GA, New York. He assumes a position formerly held by chairman/CEO Bob Greenberg who retains his creative duties as chief creative officer…..Director Johanna Andersson has joined production company FilmTecknarna, Stockholm, for exclusive representation in commercials. Her first assignment at the shop was Minute Maid's “Orange Sky” for Doner, Southfield, Mich. She is currently wrapping a second Minute Maid spot, “Fruit City”….Knucklehead, London, has secured the directing duo of Zak and Dan, formerly of Stink, London, for worldwide representation in commercials…..Two-time Oscar winning director Barbara Kopple has wrapped her documentary feature Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing and is again available for commercials via bicoastal Nonfiction Spots……
“Atropia” and “Twinless” Win Marquee Prizes At Sundance Film Festival
The war satire “Atropia,” about actors in a military role-playing facility, won the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, while the Dylan O’Brien movie “Twinless” got the coveted audience award.
Juries and programmers for the 41st edition of the independent film festival announced the major prizewinners Friday in Park City, Utah.
Other grand jury winners included the documentaries “Seeds,” about farmers in rural Georgia and “Cutting Through the Rocks,” about the first elected councilwoman in an Iranian village. The Indian drama “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears),” about a city dweller mourning his father in the western Indian countryside, won the top prize in the world cinema competition.
“It’s for my dad,” said writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade. His late father, he said, was the one who encouraged him to pursue filmmaking.
Audiences also get to vote on their own awards, where James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” about the bromance between two men who meet in a twin bereavement support group, triumphed in the U.S. dramatic category. O’Brien also won a special jury award for his acting.
The U.S. documentary audience award went to “André is an Idiot,” a life-affirming film about dying of colon cancer. Other audience picks were “Prime Minister,” about former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and “DJ Ahmet,” a coming-of-age film about a 15-year-old boy in North Macedonia.
Mstyslav Chernov, the Oscar-winning Associated Press journalist, won the world cinema documentary directing award for his latest dispatch from Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS Frontline.
“Here’s to all... Read More