Helen O’Brien of O’Brien Company, Chicago, is the new Midwest sales rep for Industrial Light+Magic Commercial Productions (ILMCP), Los Angeles and San Rafael, Calif. The ILMCP directorial roster includes Robert Caruso, Milan Erceg, Bob Grigg, Wade Howie, Joe Johnston, Matthew Robbins, Rick Schulze, Bill Timmer and Bill Werts.…Brent Novick of indie rep firm Novick & Associates, San Rafael, is now handling the West Coast and Texas for Independent Media, the Santa Monica-headquartered shop headed by executive producer Susanne Preissler.…Mark Andrews and Katrina Freese of Los Angeles-based Where’s The Boards? have taken on West Coast and Texas representation for Venice, Calif.-based Backyard Productions.…Bicoastal and Austin, Texas-based Conspiracy has signed rep Susan Prickett of Susan Prickett & Company, Chicago, to cover the Midwest.…DP Mike Maley has signed with The Martins Agency, Santa Monica, and is now shooting The Process, a film being directed by Richard Greenberg. Maley has shot spots for such clients as Chevron, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Buick and GMC.…Lyons•Sheldon•Prosnit Agency, Los Angeles, has signed DP Michael Ozier for exclusive representation.…
Martin Scorsese On “The Saints,” Faith In Filmmaking and His Next Movie
When Martin Scorsese was a child growing up in New York's Little Italy, he would gaze up at the figures he saw around St. Patrick's Old Cathedral. "Who are these people? What is a saint?" Scorsese recalls. "The minute I walk out the door of the cathedral and I don't see any saints. I saw people trying to behave well within a world that was very primal and oppressed by organized crime. As a child, you wonder about the saints: Are they human?" For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in "Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints," an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. The one-hour episodes, written by Kent Jones and directed by Elizabeth Chomko, each chronicle a saint: Joan of Arc, Francis of Assisi, John the Baptist, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene, Moses the Black, Sebastian and Maximillian Kolbe. Joan of Arc kicks off the series on Sunday, with three weekly installments to follow; the last four will stream closer to Easter next year. In naturalistic reenactments followed by brief Scorsese-led discussions with experts, "The Saints" emphasizes that, yes, the saints were very human. They were flawed, imperfect people, which, to Scorsese, only heightens their great sacrifices and gestures of compassion. The Polish priest Kolbe, for example, helped spread antisemitism before, during WWII, sheltering Jews and, ultimately, volunteering to die in the place of a man who had been condemned at Auschwitz. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind. Remarks have... Read More