APRIL 26, 1996/The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS) has established a Primetime Emmy Award for best commercial of the year, beginning in 1997.….The Walt Disney Company, Burbank, Calif., has bought visual effects house Dream Quest Images, Simi Valley, Calif. Included in the acquisition is DQ Films, Dream Quest’s Santa Monica-based commerical division, headed by executive producer Jonathan Gilson….Venice, Calif.-based Digital Domain has entered into a strategic partnership with Montreal-headquartered Discreet Logic, developer of Flame, Flint, and other systems for creating, editing, and compositing imagery and special effects.….
APRIL 26, 1991/Director Thomas Coyne of Coppos Films, Los Angeles, will join Propaganda Films, also Los Angeles….London-based director Bryce Attwell has signed with Emerald Films, New York, for U.S. representation as part of a package including executive producer Bonnie Champion and sales rep Christopher Zander….The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) boards of directors, New York and Los Angeles, have voted to recommend to their members the new three-year commercial contract proposed by the Joint Policy Committee (JPC)..…
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More