Digital Artists Agency (DAA), a licensed below-the-line talent agency specializing in visual effects, has signed a trio of noted VFX artisans for representation: motion capture producer and supervisor James Knight, visual effects supervisor Gray Marshall, and animation director and supervisor Bernd Angerer. Knight served as motion capture producer for the Academy Award®-winning Avatar, Knight also has among his credits The Amazing Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and I Am Legend. Marshall has served as production visual effects supervisor on The Hangover, 21, Dreamgirls and Adaptation, and as VFX facility visual effects supervisor on Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, The Italian Job, xXx, Fight Club and the television series West Wing. He has also worked as effects supervisor on leading commercial campaigns, including Nike's “Morning After” directed by Spike Jonze, and Sun Microsystems' “The Dot” directed by Phil Joanou. Marshall has worked at Digital Domain and was also creative director and co-owner of visual effects studio Gray Matter FX. And Angerer is a longtime animation supervisor at Digital Domain where he is attached to the upcoming 47 Ronin and where he was also animation supervisor on X-Men: First Class, TRON: Legacy and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra; lead animator on The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor; and senior animator on Speed Racer. At Sony Imageworks he was character animator on I Am Legend and Beowulf and lead character animator on Spider-Man 3. During an earlier stint at Digital Domain Angerer was character animation sequence lead on I, Robot and character animator on Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Aeon Flux, What Dreams May Come and Titanic. Headed by founder Bob Coleman, DAA reps VFX and animation artisans for freelance and staff positions….Tony Ferkranus has been appointed VP, Sales, for Deluxe Entertainment Services Group Inc.'s Media Services division in Northvale, New Jersey. Ferkranus brings 20 years experience to the industry with 10 of those years at Deluxe in Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia…. Dattner Dispoto and Associates has just signed production designer Jahmin Assa….
Sheriff Reports Preliminary Autopsy Results On Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa
Preliminary autopsy results didn't determine how Oscar-winner Gene Hackman and his wife died at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but did rule out that they were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, the sheriff leading the investigation said Friday.
The condition of the bodies found Wednesday indicated the deaths occurred at least several days earlier and there was no sign of foul play.
At a news conference, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said the initial examination by the medical examiner showed no sign of carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas produced from kitchen appliances and other fuel-burning items. When it collects in poorly ventilated homes, it can be fatal.
Mendoza also said an examination of the 95-year-old Hackman's pacemaker showed it stopped working on Feb. 17, which means he may have died nine days earlier.
Hackman's body was found in an entryway. The body of his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, was in a bathroom. She was on her side and a space heater was near her head. Investigators said the heater likely was pulled down when she fell. There also was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop.
Whether the pills or other drugs were a factor won't be known until toxicology tests are completed in the coming weeks.
Dr. Philip Keen, the retired chief medical examiner in Maricopa County, Arizona, said it would be unlikely for a person who tests negative for carbon monoxide initially to later be found to have been poisoned by it.
He also said the moment when a pacemaker stops working could mark the point when a person dies, but not always.
"If your heart required a pacemaker, there would certainly be an interruption at that point — and it might be the hallmark of when... Read More