By Lindsey Bahr
Barbenheimer is continuing into awards season. Both "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" are among the 10 films that will receive an AFI Award in January, the American Film Institute said Thursday.
The organization is recognizing a wide swath of the year's best films, with blockbusters, an animated film, indies and movies released by both streamers and traditional studios. Honorees include Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," Alexander Payne's "The Holdovers," Celine Song's "Past Lives" and Yorgos Lanthimos' "Poor Things." The list also has two Netflix films: Todd Haynes' "May December" and Bradley Cooper's "Maestro," as well as Sony's animated "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse."
"As our nation and our world continue to navigate difficult times, AFI is honored to shine a proper light upon these works of art that lift us up and, ultimately, lead us to empathy," said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. "That we do so without competition is AFI's hallmark, and we are proud to gather this community of artists together — as one — to celebrate their extraordinary contributions to our time."
AFI also gives honors to 10 television shows. They are: "Abbott Elementary"; "The Bear"; "Beef"; "Jury Duty"; "The Last of Us"; "The Morning Show"; "Only Murders in the Building"; "Poker Face"; "Reservation Dogs"; and "Succession."
Jurors included directors like Gina Prince-Bythewood, Paris Barclay, authors and film scholars Mark Harris and Leonard Maltin, as well as critics Ann Hornaday, Janet Maslin, Mary McNamara and Peter Travers.
Winners will be celebrated at a private luncheon in Los Angeles on Jan. 12.
Lindsey Bahr is an AP film writer
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More