Hybrid Edit + Content has secured Perry Tongate of Perry Reps for sales representation in the Texas and Southeast territories. West and East Coast sales are handled by executive producer Gail Butler….Imaginary Forces (IF) is expanding its reach within the video game industry by naming Derek C. Smith as the studio’s new director of business development, gaming. With over 15 years of experience working in interactive entertainment, Smith has extensive expertise within every facet of the video game production process, from testing and publishing to development. Smith has produced a number of top video game titles, overseeing a diverse array of artists, during his recent five-and-a-half-year tenure with Sony Computer Entertainment America as associate producer. Smith first met IF’s team when collaborating on main, end and flashback sequences for the PlayStation3 games God of War III and God of War: Ascension. Impressed by IF’s stylized, cinematic work, he fostered a working relationship with the IF team while at Sony….Kevin Batten and his Pop-Arts Management are now handling representation on the West Coast for Venice, Calif.-based VFX studio Brewster Parsons….Carlos Penny has joined Oishii Creative as head of business Development. He comes to the creative agency with more than a decade of business development experience, including positions at production companies SD MEDIA and FILTER. Penny’s hiring signals Oishii Creative’s continued evolution, embracing strategic partnerships with a focus on multidisciplinary talent and investing in proprietary technology, mobile video and multi-channel networks….Below-the-line talent agent Kirk Orlando has launched Orlando Agency in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Unlike his previous company Orlando Management, which exclusively represented DPs and production designer, Orlando Agency also carries new below-the-line talent categories. The Orlando Agency roster represents editors, costume designers, hair & make-up artists, production sound mixers and script supervisors for commercials and music videos. Several DPs are also available as directors/cameramen through the agency….
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More