Lisa Schreiber Naber of Boardalicious has joined the LAIR family, handling West Coast and Texas representation. This comes at a pivotal time as LAIR continues to refine its roster of multimedia talents alongside the development of its sibling post company, Lion’s Den, represented by newly appointed Lori Youmans of Match Maker Media. Boardalicious will be working closely with LAIR’s VP of business development Kelly Carson who will continue to rep on the East Coast and in the Midwest….
Creative marketing agency Compadre has brought Ryan D’Arcy aboard as director of client partnerships. D’Arcy is a hands-on accounts specialist who has partnered with clients as varied as Hot Wheels and Bloomin’ Brands while holding tenure at RAPP. More recently, he was at Liquid+Arcade, where he collaborated on video game campaigns with Capcom, Activision Blizzard, and Square Enix, as well as a variety of mobile and indie game studios. His portfolio includes multiple award-winning campaigns for such popular titles as Overwatch, Final Fantasy, Elden Ring, and Marvel’s Avengers…..
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More