JANUARY 21, 2000 JANUARY 20, 1995
Bicoastal commercial production house RSA USA has finalized an agreement with executive producer Susanne Preissler for the formal launch of RSA Independent. The new venture specializes in garnering spots for select feature filmmakers….Jump, New York, has added editor Julie Drazen to its roster….After recently ending a 20-year tenure at Chicago-based music/sound design house Com/track, composer/producer Gary Fry has joined commercial music shop Catfish Music, Chicago….Editor Hannah Neufeld has joined Wildchild Editorial, New York. Neufeld comes over after five years at New York-based Homestead Editorial….Miles Goodall, a director/DP currently based in Cape Town, has signed with New York-based Taxi Films….Magick Lantern, Atlanta, has added Amy Henderson as operations manager/postproduction producer….
Director/cameraman Kinka Usher, formerly with Stiefel & Co., Hollywood, has joined bicoastal Smillie Films, finalizing a deal that had been rumored for several months….Mike Cunningham, president of Western Images, San Francisco, will return to the International Teleproduction Society (ITS) board after suddenly resigning his position as president in late December. At press time, he had not yet decided if he will return as president or as a member….Editor T.G. Herrington has departed the two-and-a-half-year-old NaHo Editorial, Santa Monica, to launch MOJO/L.A., Santa Monica. Herrington was a partner in and the sole editor at NaHo….Santiago, New York, has signed tabletop director Beth Galton, who is also a noted print photographer, for exclusive representation. Galton comes from Five Union Square Productions, New York, where she began directing two years ago….
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