New York-based creative digital production company Click 3x announced that it has added Emmy Award-nominated creative director, Steve Tozzi, to its roster. He last served as creative director at PURE in New York. Before joining PURE in 2004, where he helped launch the new studio, Tozzi worked with Patrick McDonough of New York-based PMCD Design as design director. Over the years, Tozzi’s clients have included Footlocker/Nike, MTV, Lowes, ESPN and Verizon Wireless. He earned an Emmy nomination for his creative package for the ESPN X Games and has received numerous BDA Awards including two World Silvers for a Sky Cinema Classics package… Artist-owned-and-operated visual effects company Brickyard VFX, with bases in Santa Monica and Boston, has hired compositing and visual effects talent Jimi Simmons, who had most recently been freelancing after serving as director of visual effects at Pisces, Boston. Prior to that, Simmons worked at an array of leading San Francisco creative studios, including now-closed Western Images, where he served as VP and director of visual effects. During this time, he built relationships with Bay Area production entities and accrued credits in both features (Men in Black, Spawn, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace) and commercials (Coca-Cola, Captain Crunch, Budweiser, Miller Genuine Draft, Pillsbury). While with Western Images, he also garnered two Emmy Award nominations for the television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles…The Filmworkers Club’s Dallas locale has added colorists Joe Malina and Oscar Oboza to its staff. Both arrive with commercial, music video and independent film credits. Malina was formerly on staff at the Austin, Texas boutique Match Frame where over the past five years he has completed numerous assignments for GSD&M and other top creative agencies. Oboza previously worked at the Minneapolis post house Hi-Wire and has strong relationships with leading Midwestern ad agencies including Fallon, for whom he has colored spots for such national advertisers as Subway and Lee Jeans. The two men join colorist Valerie Christensen at the Dallas facility…Motion capture technology developer Vicon and House of Moves, the company’s motion capture service division, opened a new 25,000-square foot facility in Marina del Rey, Calif. The studio brings together House of Moves’ motion capture production services with Vicon’s hardware and software development, product support and consulting. The facility offers multiple stages for real-time simultaneous full-body, hand and facial capture with Vicon MX40 motion capture cameras. Stage 1 measures 150 by 70 feet with a 25-foot ceiling and is designed for large-scale, high character count real-time capture. Stage 2 is of the same size and is being designed to record studio-quality audio during performance capture sessions, capturing face, finger and full-body motion of multiple actors simultaneously and at high resolution. The facility also provides the opportunity to demonstrate, use and test Vicon technology prior to purchasing…Newbury, U.K.-headquartered Quantel promoted Neil Hinson to the position of research and development director. Hinson has been with Quantel since in 1980 and previously served as chief engineer. In that role, he was the project manager who delivered Quantel products such as Harry, Henry and Clipbox, and he was also one of the key architects of Quantel’s current generationQ product family….Cincinnati-based Lightborne has launched a CG division, headed by digital effects supervisor David Lombardi, who has experience in commercials, videogames, feature films, episodics and music videos. He will be responsible for new business development, maintaining client relations, overseeing all visual effects work and building the CG department. Most recently, he was a digital effects supervisor/on-set supervisor/senior artist at Santa Monica-headquartered The Syndicate/Computer Cafç where he specialized in commercials and music videos….Burbank-based post facility Matchframe Video has named Barry Nulman as COO. Nulman brings over 20 years of experience in the postproduction industry, most recently oversight of Avid Technology’s market development in Hollywood. Earlier, he held positions including president of Hollywood-based The Post Group and president of Anderson Video at Universal Studios in Universal City….Postproduction sound facility Pacific Soundwaves announced that Michael Geisler has joined the company as supervising sound editor. Geisler is a 20-year veteran of the postproduction industry and has received two Emmy Awards, five Emmy nominations for sound editing and design, and a number of Golden Reel Awards. He founded BadaBing BadaBoom Productions in 1998, where he handled sound design and sound/music editing, Foley, ADR, dialogue recording, foreign language dubbing and more, for animation and live-action TV, direct-to-video, feature film, Web-based media, radio, and commercials….
Breakout Films and Major Takeaways From This Year’s Sundance Fest
Film wasn't the only thing on people's minds at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( and online ).
The effects of the wildfires in Southern California loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be the second to last Sundance based in Park City. Some films offered an escape from reality; others were a pointed reminder of the domestic and international political landscape, from transgender rights to the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the 41st edition of the festival.
The effects of the Southern California fires were deeply felt
The wildfires were still burning in parts of Los Angeles when Sundance began last week and reminders of its devastation were everywhere, even on screen. Max Walker-Silverman's "Rebuilding," starring Josh O'Connor as a cowboy who loses his ranch in a wildfire and forms a community with fellow survivors in a FEMA camp, hit close to home for many.
Filmmakers Meena Menon and Paul Gleason lost their home in Altadena where they filmed some of their zombie apocalypse movie "Didn't Die." Sundance artist labs head Michelle Satter lost her Palisades home as well. Satter had an audience of Sundance Institute donors in tears early in the festival while accepting an honor at a fundraising gala.
"It's a deeply devastating time for us and so many others, a moment that calls for all of us coming together to support our bigger community," Satter said. "As a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, 'Take a deep breath ... We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.'"
The festival's move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic... Read More