Delores Hively and Dawn Schiffman of Buzz Management, New York, are handling East Coast representation for animation studio Wreckless Abandon, East Granby, Conn., and graphics/design company The Wilderness, New York. Additionally, Buzz has parted ways with GSP and Playroom, both bicoastal….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….Outside Editorial, New York, has secured Ilene Silberman of Ilene Silberman Productions, New York, for U.S. representation….Griffin Guess has been named to the newly created post of director of commercials and music videos at Encore Hollywood, heading sales for its shortform postproduction team. Guess formerly served in a sales executive capacity at Encore…. Propeller Music & Sound, New York, has added Jen Weirich as manager of sales and development….Production designer Michael Seymour has joined bicoastal Paradigm for spots. Meanwhile, returning to the firm for exclusive representation in features and commercials is cinematographer Hubert Taczanowski….DP Damian Acevedo, costume designer Marcelle McKay and production designer Sami Straiton have signed with Erika Levy at Montana Artists Agency, Santa Monica, for exclusive representation. Additionally, DP Crescenzo Notarile has wrapped the NBC pilot Hawaii, and is again available for commercials and music videos via Montana Artists….
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More