Postproduction and production house Optimus has added Matt McLaughlin as marketing director, and Sean Sullivan and Perry Tongate as sales reps in the Midwest and South/Southeast, respectively....
Postproduction and production house Optimus has added Matt McLaughlin as marketing director, and Sean Sullivan and Perry Tongate as sales reps in the Midwest and South/Southeast, respectively. With the recent announcement of West Coast director of sales Sarah Schroeder, Sullivan and Tongate round out the Optimus sales force and will further drive the company’s growth nationally. As marketing director, McLaughlin will spearhead Optimus’ overall message, including communications for ONE at Optimus and Optimus Santa Monica. The new hires represent a significant step forward in Optimus’ continued evolution as a provider of comprehensive creative services for the advertising and marketing community. McLaughlin, who has almost a decade of agency experience with firms such as Draftfcb and clients such as MillerCoors, has been working with Optimus since the fall of 2009. After collaborating with ONE at Optimus EP and managing director John Noble on direct-to-client projects, McLaughlin became marketing director of the overall organization. After working in account management at agencies including Fallon, Deutsch NY and McCann-Erickson’s Amster Yard, Sullivan struck out on his own as a rep, which he has been doing for almost 10 years. In the Texas and Southeast market for almost 12 years, Tongate has worked as an in-house rep and independently with a host of companies….Digital studio Radium/Reel FX, Santa Monica and Dallas, has brought aboard executive producer Jeb Schary to join the studio’s sales and business development team. In this role, Schary will focus his efforts on cultivating new and existing relationships with clients. He is based out of Radium/Reel FX’s Dallas studio. Schary comes to Radium/Reel FX after successful runs as EP at 3008 Editorial and Willow Street Editorial, both in Dallas….Dattner Dispoto & Associates has just signed DP John Lindley, ASC….
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