The Artists Company and its longtime director/executive creative director Otis Mass have announced an amicable split. The news comes on the heels of the theatrical release of their feature documentary The Incomparable Rose Hartman, directed by Mass with The Artists Company owner/executive producer Sally Antonacchio who served as the film’s EP.
The Incomparable Rose Hartman rolled out at Manhattan’s newly renovated Quad Cinema and is scheduled to open on July 7 at the Laemmle Monica in Santa Monica, Calif. As part of Laemmle’s unique “Art in the Arthouse” initiative, the run there will be accompanied by an in-house exhibition of Hartman’s iconic celebrity, nightlife and fashion photography. Gravitas Ventures will be releasing the film in North American on VOD, DVD and Blu-ray on August 29.
Said producer-director Mass: “I am so lucky to have had a 20-year run at such a respected and storied shop as The Artists Company, where Sally helped me grow into the director I am today. We will always share an amazing journey called Rose Hartman, from which I learned a greater fluidity in storytelling and also what’s possible in the quickly changing landscapes of the Ad arena.”
Said Antonacchio, “I am so proud of what we were able to achieve together creatively in both the advertising and feature film worlds. I wish Øtis the very best.”
A world premiere at SXSW and then screened at over a dozen festivals including Toronto’s HotDocs and DOC NYC, The Incomparable Rose Hartman exposes the irascibly candid, recently-turned-80-year-old woman behind some of pop culture’s most enduring images, particularly from the Studio 54 era and her pioneering work behind the scenes of 7th Avenue. Some have called her “the Tasmanian Devil of photography.”
A presentation of The Artists Company and Massive Original, the 70-minute film was also produced by Mass along with Bob Fisher. In addition to Antonacchio’s role as EP, Eric Schmollinger and Hartman served as co-executive producers.
