Animation and design studio Laundry has added James Sweigert as managing director. Sweigert, who brings extensive experience in marketing, brand strategy, design, and TV and film production, will spearhead business development at Laundry. The announcement comes on the heels of the studio moving into a new creative space in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles, and scoring a PromaxBDA Award Gold for its work on the FXX/Truth “How to Make a Cat Video” campaign, as well as launching a new website.
Working closely with Laundry executive creative directors and partners PJ Richardson and Anthony Liu, Sweigert will oversee all creative and production management and operations for the studio, which encompasses animation, design, VFX, and live-action production. He is also tasked with nurturing existing client relationships and cultivating new opportunities with brands, services, and technology partners.
“Laundry has a sophisticated creative infrastructure, which I’m excited about bringing to new heights,” said Sweigert. “We can achieve great things with our clients by tapping deeper into the existing strengths of this company across the board, and implementing systems that allow us to become more of a strategic partner early on. I’m also keen on what the future holds for Laundry with respect to VR/AR, 360 and experiential work, as well as expanding our live-action bandwidth.”
Sweigert arrives at Laundry following a tenure as executive producer of TV and streaming at mOcean. Other previous positions include executive producer/partner at Nathaniel James, head of production at Brand New School, and assistant EP at Fuel/Razorfish. He’s produced notable projects, including the main titles for the Emmy Award-winning documentary “Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau,” about one of the most prestigious big wave riders, which was featured on ESPN Films: 30 for 30; IDs for the NFL Network’s broadcast of the Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, which was seen by millions on-air and also appeared on the stadium’s jumbotrons; as well as work for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Sport in America”; a graphics package for the US Open on FOX Sports; and a rebrand for GSN.
Also a filmmaker, Sweigert has just completed producing and directing a documentary titled “N-Men: The Untold Story.” The film takes a look at the Northern California skateboarding scene from 1975 through today, featuring interviews with Tony Hawk, Tony Alva and the N-Men who inspired them. The film is scheduled for release in 2018 with Laundry playing an instrumental role in the postproduction.
“Conclave,” “Nickel Boys” Among Film Finalists For USC Libraries Scripter Awards
The USC Libraries named the finalists for the 37th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards, which honor the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of the works on which they are based.
The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film
--James Mangold and Jay Cocks for “A Complete Unknown” based on the nonfiction book “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” by Elijah Wald
--Peter Straughan for “Conclave” based on the novel by Robert Harris
--RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes for “Nickel Boys” based on the book “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead
--Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar (screenplay and story) and Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield (story) for “Sing Sing” based on the “Esquire” magazine article “The Sing Sing Follies” by John H. Richardson
--Screenwriter Chris Sanders and novelist Peter Brown for “The Wild Robot”
The finalist writers for episodic series are, in alphabetical order by series
--Richard Gadd for the sixth episode of “Baby Reindeer,” based on his stage play of the same name
--Steven Zaillian for “V Lucio,” the fifth episode of “Ripley,” based on “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith
--Joshua Zetumer for the episode “The People in the Dirt” from “Say Nothing,” based on the nonfiction book “Say by Patrick Radden Keefe
--Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks for “Anjin,” the first episode of “Shōgun,” based on the novel by James Clavell
--Will Smith for the episode “Hello Goodbye,” from “Slow Horses,” based on the novel... Read More