Backyard Productions has connected with Nathan Skillicorn of Heart, Brains and Nerve for Midwest representation, and Perry Schaffer and Corey Rogers of Schaffer/Rogers for East Coast representation. Backyard’s founder Roy Skillicorn, who recently rejoined Backyard as managing director and CMO, secured the representation deals in both key markets. Heart, Brains and Nerve and Schaffer/Rogers join a sales team that also includes Backyard’s ongoing relationship with Doug Sherin and Kimberly Griswold of Options Inc. who handle the West Coast……
Bicoastal commercial production company REVERSE has signed Daria Zeliger for Northeast representation, along with Siobhan McCafferty and Nikolai Giefer of SM Reps for West Coast representation. Both will handle REVERSE’s roster of directors including Romain Quirot, Johan Stahl, Julien Rocher, Kim Jacobsen, Bradley Tangonan, Antoine Pai, Camille de Galbert, and Pepe Lansky….
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) has booked costume designer Paco Delgado on the feature film CATS…And on the TV front, DDA has gotten production designer Rika Nakanishi a gig on season one of The Emperor of Porn (Netflix Japan)….
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More