Commercial production company Cap Gun Collective, with shops in Chicago and London, has opened a Los Angeles office with the hiring of executive producer Jason Botkin and an expanded U.S. directorial roster that includes founder Alex Fendrich, Docter Twins, Jeppe Ronde, Jonathan Doe, Michael Sewandono, Spooner Bonde, Tomas Mankovsky, and Tom Haines.
The company has also launched an original content offering, Cap Gun TV (CGTV), a hybrid production studio that develops, produces, and markets original content for broadcast, film, digital and video on demand, incubating micro-content into larger, fully realized properties and finding new ways of funding and distribution within the landscapes of traditional and new media.
Botkin hails from an extensive production background, most recently as EP for commercial production stalwart Furlined. Prior to Furlined, Botkin was the founder and managing director of Streetgang Films, a music video company that helped launch the careers of assorted prominent directors.
Cap Gun Collective was originally founded in Chicago in 2009 by executive producer Matt Abramson, director Fendrich, and producer Kaitlyn Parks. In 2011, the company opened an office in London with exec producer Oliver Allgrove. Cap Gun Collective is part of the grouping of Whitehouse Post “one roof” partner companies that includes Gentleman Scholar and Carbon VFX.
Since its 2009 inception Cap Gun Collective has developed and produced a number of original content properties, including The Venue, which won the Comedy Central Pilot Competition in 2012. Cap Gun also produced the web series Teachers with director Matt Miller and improv comedy troupe The Katydids. The series is showcased on The Onion website and is also being developed into a longer format series.
Cap Gun will continue its successful foray into original content with CGTV.
Cap Gun Collective is represented on the West Coast by Brooke Covington and Rebecca Reber, Jimmy Waldron for the Mid-West and Meredith Bergman for the East Coast.
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More