Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios, Los Angeles, has promoted Amy Hassler to executive producer/director of marketing, a new position at the company. Her former role was exec producer of Rhythm+Hues Animation+Effects. In her new capacity, Hassler will oversee a sales force of independent reps consisting of Henry Hagerty on the East Coast, Marci Miles in the Midwest and the team of Toni Saarinen and Jennifer Spencer on the West Coast and in Texas. Rhythm+Hues Commercial Studios encompasses live action, CG animation, visual effects, design and postproduction services….Andy Mathis has joined Click 3x, New York, as head of broadcast sales. Among the shop’s recent broadcast clients are MTV, Discovery, INHD, Showtime and Comedy Central. Mathis comes over from Postworks, New York….Audio post house Margarita Mix de Santa Monica has hired Paula Arnett as its executive producer. In the newly created company position, Arnett is responsible for new business and client relations while overseeing jobs that are produced at the facility….Winnipeg-headquartered Frantic Films, a visual effects/animation/design house which also maintains offices in Los Angeles, Vancouver, B.C., and Sydney, has secured Schafler Artists Management, New York, for spot representation on the East Coast….Pattie Sueoka Lofton has joined Paradigm, bicoastal and Nashville, where she will run the commercial and music video operation, representing cinematographers and production designers…..
Marlee Matlin Is “Not Alone Anymore” At Sundance, Opens Up In A New Documentary
Marlee Matlin gives an unflinchingly honest account of her experiences as a deaf actor in the funny and revelatory documentary "Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore." The film kicked off the 41st Sundance Film Festival Thursday, as the first major premiere in the Eccles Theater in Park City, Utah.
After the screening audiences in the theater, some wiping tears away, greeted Matlin with a standing ovation when she took the stage.
The film delves into all aspects of her life, personal and professional: Her childhood and how her family handled learning she had become deaf at 18 months; her experience winning the best actress Oscar for her first movie role in "Children of a Lesser God" and her allegedly abusive romantic relationship with her co-star, the late William Hurt, which he denied; and her experiences in an industry not equipped to accommodate deaf actors.
The film was directed by Shoshanna Stern, who also is deaf. Matlin specifically requested that Stern take on the project when American Masters approached her about doing a documentary.
Matlin has written about her experiences before, including her volatile relationship with Hurt and drugs, in a memoir, "I'll Scream Later." But before the #MeToo movement, she felt her allegations were largely dismissed or glossed over.
Interviews from the book's press tour show journalists were more interested in the "amazing sex" she said she had with Hurt than the stories of the alleged physical and verbal abuse. One interviewer asked her why she waited "so long" to come forward with the claims.
The documentary isn't just a portrait of Matlin, but a broader look at deaf culture and how Matlin was thrust into the spotlight at a young age as a de facto spokesperson for all deaf... Read More