The Directors Network (TDN), a talent agency for freelance directors and cinematographers, has signed director/DP Joe Grasso who’s known for his storytelling acumen. TDN has also signed NY-based DP Jamie Rosenberg who brings to projects extensive knowledge of and experience in VFX technologies, HD equipment and production/post workflow….Danixa Diaz and Ed Rivero have launched iartists, based in Marina del Rey, Calif., to represent directors, designers, animators, VFX artisans, storytellers and digital experts working across platforms, devices and spaces. The new venture’s roster includes Prologue, a design and filmmaking collective founded by Kyle Cooper; design and live-action production company Superfad for broadcast, gaming and U.S. Hispanic commercial representation; creative shop Iron Claw; Uruguay-based VFX and motion graphics studio Aparato; Madrid-based design/VFX house La Huella; and COPA, a virtual creative entity formed by VFX vets Alex Frisch and Vico Sharabani…DP Tom Camarda has joined Innovative Artists, Santa Monica, for representation in commercials, features and TV….
Stage and Film Actor Tony Roberts Dies At 85
Tony Roberts, a versatile, Tony Award-nominated theater performer at home in both plays and musicals and who appeared in several Woody Allen movies โ often as Allen's best friend โ has died. He was 85.
Roberts' death was announced to The New York Times by his daughter, Nicole Burley.
Roberts had a genial stage personality perfect for musical comedy and he originated roles in such diverse Broadway musicals as "How Now, Dow Jones" (1967); "Sugar" (1972), an adaptation of the movie "Some Like It Hot," and "Victor/Victoria" (1995), in which he co-starred with Julie Andrews when she returned to Broadway in the stage version of her popular film. He also was in the campy, roller-disco "Xanadu" in 2007 and "The Royal Family" in 2009.
"I've never been particularly lucky at card games. I've never hit a jackpot. But I have been extremely lucky in life," he write in his memoir, "Do You Know Me?" "Unlike many of my pals, who didn't know what they wanted to become when they grew up, I knew I wanted to be an actor before I got to high school."
Roberts also appeared on Broadway in the 1966 Woody Allen comedy "Don't Drink the Water," repeating his role in the film version, and in Allen's "Play It Again, Sam" (1969), for which he also made the movie.
Other Allen films in which Roberts appeared were "Annie Hall" (1977), "Stardust Memories" (1980), "A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy" (1982), "Hannah and Her Sisters" (1986) and "Radio Days" (1987).
"Roberts' confident onscreen presence โ not to mention his tall frame, broad shoulders and brown curly mane โ was the perfect foil for Allen's various neurotic characters, making them more funny and enjoyable to watch," The Jewish Daily Forward wrote in 2016.
In Eric Lax's book "Woody... Read More