The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has promoted Mark Friedlander to director of new media, effective May 21. Friedlander will head the Guild’s newly formed new media department and will report to Pamm Fair, SAG’s deputy national executive director.
“Mark’s expertise in new media and interactive contracts, combined with his knowledge of emerging technologies and his legal background, make him the perfect choice for this new position,” Fair said. “Our elected leaders and staff have made new media a top priority and this new department, along with our research and economics department, will provide essential research, analysis and strategy to guide our long-term decisions and policies.”
Friedlander and the new media department will work closely with the Guild’s new technologies, interactive contract, and organizing committees, as well as negotiating committees for all SAG contracts and the newly formed national joint new media subcommittee. Friedlander will be charged with hiring additional professional staff over the coming months.
“This is the dawn of a new era in entertainment,” Friedlander said. “The developments in new media formats give actors new opportunities, but it’s important to make sure they are compensated fairly for their work, no matter what the format. This department will help accomplish that, and I’m excited to lead this critical area for the Screen Actors Guild.”
Friedlander came to the Guild in ’05 as a business representative in the contracts department, specializing in theatrical, new media and interactive projects. Prior to SAG, he was an entertainment attorney.
A Similar But Different Take On A Feature Film Debut
Similar But Different is not only the moniker for the directorial duo of Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler but also in some respects an apt description of their feature filmmaking debut, My Fault: London (Amazon MGM Studios). The movie, which premiered last week on Amazon Prime Video, has on one level some select elements similar to what we’re accustomed to in the young adult (YA) universe--which helps make it familiar, comfortable and relatable--yet at the same time My Fault: London brings a new, decidedly different dimension to YA entertainment, uniquely meshing action-adventure, mystery, music, romance and humor. The film captures the feel of the underground London culture, lending an authenticity and contemporary vibe that’s a departure from the norm when it comes to the adaptation of YA literature. This mesh of similar but different has served the film well in that there was some target audience skepticism initially over the notion of doing an English adaptation of the popular, fan-favorite Spanish-language novel “Culpa Mia,” the first of the “Culpables” trilogy. Thus it’s most gratifying for Girdwood and Fassler to see the social media response after the release of My Fault: London, with many viewers enthusiastically embracing the film. My Fault: London introduces us to Noah (portrayed by Asha Banks) who’s uprooted from her U.S. hometown, having to leave her boyfriend and friends behind to move with her mother (Eve Macklin) to London. Mom has a new rich husband (Ray Fearon) in London and their new residence is a mansion. There Noah meets Nick (Matthew Broome), her new stepbrother. They have an immediate mutual dislike for each other which blossoms into something quite different over time. Along the... Read More