By Robert Goldrich
SANTA MONICA --After a trial run encompassing several projects at Plum Productions, director Gavin Bowden has formally come aboard the Santa Monica-based company. At press time, he was in pre-pro on a Wal-Mart job, a follow-up to the “Smile More” spot which aired heavily during the Winter Olympics telecast on NBC.
That initial Wal-Mart ad as well as two Toyota packages and a CBS assignment were all helmed by Bowden via Plum. The content for CBS was a seven-segment “miniseries” of interstitial commercials sponsored by Pontiac. Titled “The Courier,” the pieces aired on CBS, on the Web, and on cell phones via Verizon Wireless’ V Cast service.
Bowden’s past production house affiliations included BlueYed Pictures, which has offices in London, Tokyo and London, as well as Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart and prior to that Original Film. The director has been active in multiple disciplines, spanning spots (Nike, GMC, Ford, Fanta, VH-1), music videos (Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ben Folds, Match Box 20, Eve 6), and documentaries for a number of music performers. One such documentary was Funky Monks featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Made in 1991, the hour-long Funky Monks led to Bowden getting the chance to direct music clips and he then later diversified into commercials.
Bowden joins a Plum directorial roster that includes Eric Saarinen, Jan De Bont, Dana Christaansen, Bob Rice and Jake Schreier.
PEARSON In addition to Bowden, Plum–which is under the aegis of president Chuck Sloan–has brought executive producer Beth Pearson on board. She will work in tandem with exec producer Shelby Sexton in overseeing production, bidding, working with clients, helping in the development of directors’ careers, and participating in strategic planning for Plum.
Pearson comes on staff after freelancing as a line producer. She is no stranger to Plum, having worked regularly with the company over the years.
James Earl Jones, Lauded Actor and Voice of Darth Vader, Dies At 93
James Earl Jones, who overcame racial prejudice and a severe stutter to become a celebrated icon of stage and screen — eventually lending his deep, commanding voice to CNN, "The Lion King" and Darth Vader — has died. He was 93.
His agent, Barry McPherson, confirmed Jones died Monday morning at home in New York's Hudson Valley region. The cause was not immediately clear.
The pioneering Jones, who was one of the first African American actors in a continuing role on a daytime drama and worked deep into his 80s, won two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, a Grammy, the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honors and was given an honorary Oscar and a special Tony for lifetime achievement. In 2022, a Broadway theater was renamed in his honor.
He cut an elegant figure late in life, with a wry sense of humor and a ferocious work habit. In 2015, he arrived at rehearsals for a Broadway run of "The Gin Game" having already memorized the play and with notebooks filled with comments from the creative team. He said he was always in service of the work.
"The need to storytell has always been with us," he told The Associated Press then. "I think it first happened around campfires when the man came home and told his family he got the bear, the bear didn't get him."
Jones created such memorable film roles as the reclusive writer coaxed back into the spotlight in "Field of Dreams," the boxer Jack Johnson in the stage and screen hit "The Great White Hope," the writer Alex Haley in "Roots: The Next Generation" and a South African minister in "Cry, the Beloved Country."
He was also a sought-after voice actor, expressing the villainy of Darth Vader ("No, I am your father," commonly misremembered as "Luke, I am your father"), as... Read More