AUGUST 11, 1995/EDEFX Group, with offices in New York and Miami, has named former executive VP/COO Patrick Howley president. He succeeds Marcos Obadia, who departed to assume the same title at Click 3 West, San Francisco….Freelance visual effects artists Jon Warren, Douglas Miller and Evan Jacobs have teamed to launch effects studio Vision Crew Unlimited, Culver City, Calif….Public Pictures, New York, has added rookie director Paul Taylor….Haverford, Pa.-based Cornerstone Pictures has signed director Barbara Campbell….
AUGUST 10, 1990/Studio City, Calif.-based Energy Productions has launched spot production arm, Schwartzberg & Company, also in Studio City….Director Chris Blum has exited Smillie Films, Venice, Calif., to sign with Murray & Blum Moving Pictures, (formerly Murray & McNamara), Studio City, Calif. (Director/DP Michael McNamara recently departed for Lucasfilm Commercial Productions, Los Angeles.)….Agency Della Femina McNamee, New York, has landed feature directors Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese for a four-spot campaign by the National Institute For Drug Abuse….
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Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More