Rich Schafler of Schafler Artists Management, New York, has signed Minneapolis music company Hest & Kramer, and Santa Monica production shop Uncle for East Coast representation….Dektor Film, Hollywood, has secured Chicago-based independent rep Marguerite Juliusson to handle the Midwest….Director Vadim Perelman, who made a major splash with his feature debut House of Sand and Fog, is once again available for spots via Tate USA, Santa Monica. He had planned on returning to commercials sooner after having wrapped House of Sand and Fog, but he became attached to another film, Talisman, via Universal-DreamWorks. However, his association with that project ended, freeing him to now resume his spotmaking career….Mark Mirsky and Eileen Platt of Mirsky & Platt, New York, have been hired to represent Rogue Creative, New York, on the East Coast…. Editors Hideaway, New York, has added Frank Ferrante as VP of sales….Production designer Paul Martin is now repped by Lyons Sheldon Prosnit, Los Angeles….Production designer Aaron Goffman has signed with The Vertigo Agency, Toronto, for exclusive Canadian representation….DP Enrique Chediak has completed principal photography on Down in the Valley, and is again available for commercials through Partos, Santa Monica…. Cinematographer Bojan Bazelli has wrapped principal photography on director Doug Liman’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and is back for spot assignments at Dattner Dispoto and Associates, Los Angeles….
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More