Director Robert Rugan has joined animation, graphics, live action mixed-media production company th1ng/th2ng (pronounced “thing one/thing two,” with offices in NY and London) for exclusive commercial representation. The hiring is the latest development in the company’s U.S. expansion and builds on the recent hiring of directors Tony Petrossian and Hayley Morris. Formerly a director and creative director at Superfad, Rugan has worked for such clients as Google, Kodak, Nikon, Sci-Fi Channel, Verizon Wireless and Durex. For the latter he won a Cyber Lion at Cannes. His work has also collected four AICP Show honors and a pair of Clios, among other awards….Director/cinematographer Scott Duncan, a multiple Emmy winner, has joined Envision Media Arts’ Commercial Division which is headed by EP/division president Andrew Halpern. Duncan has directed and shot for Ford, Land Rover, BMW, Purina, Miller Genuine Draft, General Motors and Izod, among others….Patrick O’Brien has joined Yessian Music‘s Detroit studio as producer and brings an extensive background in production, from post to agency, having spent time working for Ringside Creative, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, and most recently integrated broadcast for Commonwealth/McCann on the Chevy account. In this time, he worked on a number of projects and brands including Chevy, The Detroit Institute of Arts, and Alternatives for Girls, the last of which introduced him to the non-profit advertising community in which he remains active. O’Brien also led production on Chevy’s “Under the Blue Arch” campaign. While focusing on the work in the Detroit and Chicago markets, O’Brien will collaborate with Yessian’s offices in New York, L.A. and Germany as well….Calabash Animation, the Chicago-based studio led by creative director Wayne Brejcha and executive producer Sean Henry, has added animator Jeff Mika to its full-time staff. Mika has been freelancing with Calabash on and off since May 2001…..
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More