HSI Productions has signed director Alex Ogus for representation in the U.S. and U.K. He continues to be handled in Canada by Industry Films.
Ogus made his first major mark in 2007 when The Fight Network campaign he helmed for Cossette Communications-Marketing in Toronto won a Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival. That same year he earned inclusion into SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase and secured his first U.S. representation via Santa Monica-based TWC, his roost prior to now coming aboard the HSI roster.
The Fight Network package was comedy/dialogue fare, centering on an average guy’s idiotic quest to pick a fight with anyone in his immediate vicinity.
Ogus’ spot filmography also includes noted work for Xbox, Newcastle Brown Ale, Smarties, Time Warner and Media Markt. Among his most recent exploits at TWC was Asics’ “Ping Pong Ball Shoe” via The Vitro Agency for which nearly 3,000 ping pong balls–some colored white, others black and orange–were strung onto 784 strands of fishing line and lifted two feet off the ground by a pair of industrial air compresses and 24 air valves. They levitate to form a Gel-Blur 33 Asics shoe, underscoring a message scrawled on a nearby chalkboard which reads, “Gravity. Meet Your Archenemy.”
The help of aerospace engineer Ryan Wilson was enlisted for the project. He designed the rig facilitating the in-camera attainment of the desired visuals, which is a sharp departure from what would be the norm for such a job, intense post manipulation and effects. Both Ogus and the creative ensemble at Vitro agreed that catching the spirit of this commercial concept “live” was essential to the vision coming to life for the audience. The shoe became a work of art while handling the commerce side by positioning the GEL-Blur 33 as seemingly lighter than air.
The DP was Helge Gerull.
The Vitro team included executive creative director John Vitro, creative director K.T. Thayer, art directors Kevin Lukens, David Reyes and Ali Filsoof, copywriter Schuyler Vanden Bergh, and producer Mickey Strider.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer โ but not the trigger โ and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More