Director Tony Petrossian–who gained inclusion into SHOOT‘s New Directors Showcase back in 2007–has signed with Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios. To his new roost he brings filmmaking experience spanning live action and visual effects as well as commercials and music videos. Petrossian, who was formerly repped by Rockhard Films, has helmed spots for such clients as Nike, McDonald’s, Subway and Sony Ericsson. His music video exploits include artists like Taking Back Sunday, Rise Against, Slipknot, Ludacris and DMX.
Petrossian earned his way into the aforementioned New Directors Showcase based largely on his branded content piece, Beijing Ballers, for Nike out of Wieden+Kennedy, Shanghai.
Given his diverse range of work and disciplines, Petrossian is an ideal fit for Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios which offers resources in live action, VFX, animation, design and postproduction, being able to draw upon the talent and technical firepower of VFX/animation facility Rhythm+Hues Studios. Petrossian regards Rhythm+Hues as a place that will enable him to continue “to push myself and expand creatively.”
Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios is under the aegis of executive producer Paul Babb. Recent commercial projects include Activision, Budweiser, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Crayola, Electronic Arts, Hartford, Kellogg’s, Mattel, Microsoft, X-Box, Nascar, Nasonex, Quaker State, Tide and Ubisoft.
Feature film VFX credits for Rhythm+Hues Studios include a VFX Oscar-winning effort for Golden Compass in ’08, as well as work for Moneyball, X-Men: First Class, Chronicle and Big Miracle. Films currently in production include Life of Pi, Snow White and the Huntsman, R.I.P.D. and Hunger Games.
Lessons From A Theater Near You; What The Box Office Taught Us In 2024
Movie ticket sales took a bit of a hit in 2024. The annual domestic box office is expected to end up at around $8.75 billion, down more than 3% from 2023, according to estimates from Comscore.
It's not as dire as it was in the pandemic years, but it's also not even close to the pre-pandemic norm when the annual box office regularly surpassed $11 billion.
This is the year the business felt the effects of the Hollywood strikes of 2023, the labor standoff that delayed productions and releases and led to a depleted calendar for exhibitors and moviegoers. And yet it's not as bad as it could have been, or at least as bad as analysts projected at the start of the year.
"This has been a really incredible comeback story for the industry," said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. "Just a couple of months ago it was a question of whether we would even hit $8 billion for the year."
Hollywood continues to learn lessons about what moviegoers really want, what works and what doesn't. Here are the biggest takeaways from 2024.
The strike fallout was real
The Hollywood strikes might have ended in 2023, putting productions back into full swing and sending stars out on the promotional circuit again — but the ripple effect of the work stoppages and contract standoffs showed their real effects on the 2024 release calendar.
The first two quarters were hit hardest, with tentpoles pushed later in the year ("Deadpool & Wolverine," for one) or even into 2025 (like "Mission: Impossible 8"). With no Marvel movie kicking off the summer moviegoing season, the box office was down a devastating 27.5% from 2023 right before "Inside Out 2" opened in June.
"It's an unpredictable business but it... Read More