Director Matt Aselton, executive producer Marc Marrie and managing director Mal Ward have teamed to launch Arts & Sciences, a bicoastal production house. The trio comes over from Epoch Films and each will serve as a managing partner of Arts & Sciences, working out of its West Hollywood, Calif. office.
Aselton joined Epoch’s directorial roster in 2004, helming assorted commercials, and writing and directing his first feature film, Gigantic, which debuted at the Toronto Film Festival in ’08. Ward had been Epoch’s head of sales since ’02, and Marrie produced noted spots with Epoch for 11 years.
Aselton, Marrie and Ward’s new venture can access the back room operations (to reduce overhead) as well as the feature film division of Epoch Films, which is supportive of Arts & Sciences’ endeavors. Already Arts & Sciences has turned out several jobs and added to its directorial lineup. On the latter score, the company signed independent feature director Azazel Jacobs whose credits include Momma’s Man and The GoodTimesKid. Jacobs’ most recent feature, Terri, premiered at Sundance and will be released theatrically next month.
As for the alluded to projects produced by Arts & Sciences, thus far they include the Carl’s Jr. launch campaign for david&goliath, ESPN for Wieden+Kennedy, New York, and a package of three Jet Blue commercials for Mullen, Boston. All the work was directed by Aselton. Among the JetBlue fare was “Middle Seat,” a :30 which earned SHOOT Top Spot distinction (SHOOT, 5/6) and featured fast talker John Moschitta who’s famed in the ad biz for his 1981 Federal Express commercial “Fast Paced World,” directed by the legendary Joe Sedelmaier.
Furthermore at press time, Arts & Sciences was in production on a new launch for Toyota via Saatchi & Saatchi LA, also being helmed by Aselton.
Arts & Sciences will be represented by Representation Co’s Tara Averill and John Robertson on the East Coast, and Dexter Randazzo and Irma Rodriguez on the West Coast. Marguerite Juliusson will handle sales in the Midwest.
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