French directorial and design collective Wizz has joined the roster of New York animation production company Blacklist for U.S. representation. Paris-based Wizz has already wrapped its first job in collaboration with Blacklist–Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” for Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco.
Founded in 1999, Wizz was initially a postproduction and visual effects branch for its sister company Quad Productions. Wizz’s clientele has since expanded to incorporate other productions with ad agencies or directly with clients. Mixed media studio Wizz now consists of more than 30 full-time employees including two teams of production and post directors, as well as graphic artists, Flame artists and developers. Over the last three years, Wizz has represented and developed 15 directors. Apart from various advertising projects, Wizz has also produced shorts and films.
Among the key players at Wizz are chief creative officer/co-founder Francois Brun, executive producer Cyril Couve de Murville, and producers Amanda Stubbs, Matthieu Poirier and Olivier Domerc.
According to Blacklist exec producer Andrew Linsk, Wizz has a second round with Goodby on Yahoo! Mail, this time a four-spot package slated to break in early May. Blacklist and Wizz also teamed on a cinema project for Orville Redenbacher out of Venables Bell & Partners, San Francisco, and are currently in production on a global Energizer campaign via TBWA\Chiat\Day, Los Angeles.
Here’s Yahoo! Mail’s “Big Dig” directed by Wizz’s Deubal:
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More