The International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) has appointed two new regional directors as it prepares for contract negotiations later this year. Michaella “Micki” Bursalyan joins ICG as Western region director, while ICG veteran John Amman is promoted to Eastern region director.
“We are fortunate to have two labor leaders like John and Micki step into these important roles as region directors, and I’m looking forward to working with them,” said ICG national executive director Alex Tonisson. “Their skills and experience will help Local 600 grow and thrive during the upcoming Basic Agreement negotiations and beyond.”
With 16 years of experience in the labor movement, Bursalyan is a dedicated advocate for workers’ rights. Prior to joining ICG, Bursalyan served as the staff director for SEIU Local 221 and as sr. coordinator for SEIU International, a 2-million-member international labor organization. She also worked as a television business representative with AFTRA and then SAG/AFTRA early in her career.
“I’m excited to welcome Micki to the Western region directorship. She’s been a stalwart in the labor movement, she’s experienced, she’s enthusiastic and she’s returning to her roots in our industry,” says Mark Weingartner, ASC, 2nd national vice president.
Amman is a 34-year veteran of Local 600, serving as assistant Eastern Region director and sr. business representative in the New York office, before being appointed Eastern Region director. He brings more than three decades of experience managing the needs of the Eastern region membership.
“I’m thrilled John is deepening his commitment to the ICG membership by taking on this new role,” said Chris Silano, national vice president. “He is an integral part of our community, having earned the respect of our members as well as the productions he has organized. I’m confident his leadership skills will greatly benefit us as we enter an exciting new era.”
Bursalyan and Amman complete a roster of three region directors, alongside Central region director Theresa Khouri.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More