Phillip Collins has departed bicoastal Atherton after two years as director of marketing and sales. Collins explained that he had attained key marketing goals for the shop, and agreed with Atherton’s partners that "returning to the independent rep structure is now best for the company." Atherton is currently repped by Tracy Bernard & Associates in the Midwest and by Carol Biedermann on the West Coast. Via its recently announced production agreement with Dallas-based Concrete Films (SHOOT, 1/21, p. 7), Atherton is repped in Texas and the Southeast by Concrete principal Lisa Cobb. Atherton has not yet named an East Coast rep. Prior to Atherton, Collins served as director of marketing for Industrial Light+Magic Commercial Productions, San Rafael and Los Angeles. He is currently in discussions with other companies….Cathlyn Cantone has joined Division 6, New York, as executive director/marketing and development. Division 6 is the commercial production division of New York-based National Video Center….Unleaded Music, New York, has named Yoanne Al-Hassan East Coast head of sales…. Montana Artists, Santa Monica, is repping production designers Stan Harris and Steve Kimmel for commercials and music videos….DPs Todd A. dos Reis and Steve Bernstein have finished principal photography on the independent films Down To The Last Minute and Christmas In The Clouds, respectively. Both are now available through the Lyons•Sheldon•Prosnit Agency, Los Angeles….
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More