The Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA) has announced the election results for the 2010 Production Equipment Rental Association (PERA) Council. The PERA Council within ESTA serves the needs of the equipment rental market for motion picture, television and commercial production. The Council continues the work of the PERA trade association for camera, accessories, grip and lighting rental companies and manufacturers. Members of the Council are elected by the PERA Council Affiliates and are responsible for the development and implementation of programs and services for members in these market segments.
Elected to the Council were: Carly Barber of Illumination Dynamics, San Fernando, Calif.; Daniel Gurzi, Abel Cine Tech, New York; Greg Meyers, Cinequipt, Inc., Minneapolis; JR Reid, JR Lighting, Las Vegas; John Rule, Rule | Boston Camera, Boston; Mark Tye, Citation Support, Inc., Nashville; and Mark Wofford, Production Consultants & Equipment, Atlanta.
Tye will additionally serve as PERA Council secretary, joining a lineup of officers that also includes Council executive John Johnston; and vice chair, budget and finance Marc Stephens of MPS Studios, Dallas.
Continuing members of the PERA Council are Leigh Blicher of Videofax in San Francisco; Tom Fletcher of Fletcher Camera & Lenses in Chicago; and MPS’ Stephens.
Retiring Council members are Mal Connett of The Camera Department, Pat Patin of Texcam, Lee Utterbach of Lee Utterbach Cameras, and Diane Woods of David J. Woods Productions, who worked on the former PERA board of directors and helped in the organization’s transition to ESTA.
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More