Filmmaker known for her documentaries and shorts joins aWHITELABELproduct
Director Alison Chernick has joined aWHITELABELproduct for global representation, marking her first career signing with a commercial production company. She is best known for her feature-length documentaries and short films covering art, culture and fashion.
Her first feature documentary, The Jeff Koons Show, captured the thoughts and processes of prolific visual artist Jeff Koons.
Chernick soon followed it up with another feature length documentary about avant-garde artist Matthew Barney, titled Matthew Barney: No Restraint, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and was acquired for theatrical distribution by The Weinstein Company and IFC. Both films gained worldwide release and were screened at notable festivals and museums around the world.
Chernick’s ability to capture intimate and unvarnished moments of her subjects has made her a sought after filmmaker in art, culture and fashion circles. She has directed several mini-films about iconic art and design personalities such as Julian Schnabel, Marc Newson, Jeffrey Deitch, Pedro Almodovar and the infamous restaurant in Spain, El Bulli. On the commercial side, utilizing her documentary approach she independently directed a BMW spot featuring author Glenn O’Brien, and won a Promax award for the HBO promo “You’ve Got Mail.”
Chernick’s recent short film, Confessions of Steve McQueen, can be viewed at the Louis Vuitton on-line magazine Nowness.com, where she is a regular contributor. Shot during the 2011 Toronto Film Festival, it’s a film ruminating with British director Steve McQueen in his hotel room while discussing his forthcoming feature film Shame. Chernick often toggles between covering real topics and creating fiction. The prolific director won best screenplay for her fiction short titled The Couple, which played the film festival circuit this year.
On the list of Chernick’s projects is her next feature documentary about the mysterious and intriguing French artist/fashion designer Martin Margiela. Chernick is currently shooting a video series of 10 short films, in which contemporary artists are enlisted to star in remakes of seminal video artworks, prompting a dialogue between the original artwork and the artist reinterpreting it. First is James Franco as Bruce Nauman in a contemporary update of Nauman’s Art Make-Up video piece from 1967. Further details on the series will be announced as more installments are completed.
In the feature film arena, Chernick is developing a project inspired by Maurice Pialat’s 1972 French drama Nous Ne Vieillirons Pas Ensemble / We Won’t Grow Old Together, which she is scheduled to shoot in late 2012. She will also be shooting a short video piece commissioned by the Tate Modern in London for an upcoming exhibit.
Chernick’s work has been screened at various museums around the world, including the five Guggenheims, The Smithsonian, SFMOMA, and The Walker. She comes aboard aWHITELABELproduct directorial roster that includes Arni & Kinski, Mikael Jansson, Aneil Karia, Darius Khondji, Peter Lindbergh, Carlos Manga Jr., David Michalek, Paul Middleditch, Panoptic, Adria Petty, James Pilkington, Eugenio Recuenco, Tim Richardson, Nick Robertston, Stephane Sednaoui, Benjamin Seroussi, Carter Smith, Tell No One and Mathieu Wothke.
SAG-AFTRA Calls For A Strike Against “League of Legends”
"League of Legends" is caught in the middle of a dispute between Hollywood's actors union and an audio company that provides voiceover services for the blockbuster online multiplayer game.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists called a strike against "League of Legends" on Tuesday, arguing that Formosa Interactive attempted to get around the ongoing video game strike by hiring non-union actors to work on an unrelated title.
Formosa tried to "cancel" the unnamed video game, which was covered by the strike, shortly after the start of the work stoppage, SAG-AFTRA said. The union said when Formosa learned it could not cancel the game, the company "secretly transferred the game to a shell company and sent out casting notices for 'non-union' talent only." In response, the union's interactive negotiating committee voted unanimously to file an unfair labor practice charge against the company with the National Labor Relations Board and to call a strike against "League of Legends" as part of that charge.
"League of Legends" is one of Formosa's most well-known projects. The company provides voiceover services for the game, according to SAG-AFTRA.
SAG-AFTRA has accused Formosa of interfering with protections that allow performers to form or join a union and prevent those performers from being discriminated against — a move the union called "egregious violations of core tenets of labor law."
Formosa did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "League of Legends" developer Riot Games said that the company "has nothing to do" with the union's complaint.
"We want to be clear: Since becoming a union project five years ago, 'League of Legends' has only asked Formosa to engage with union... Read More