Pink Sparrow–a design and fabrication shop for experiential event marketing, retail environments and art installations, creating environments for global brands like Google, Nike and Target, as well as agencies like Droga5–has hired Corey Smith as its business director. Smith most recently served as director of business development for Mirror NYC. He will work with leadership and business development teams at Pink Sparrow–which maintains offices in Brooklyn, NY, and Los Angeles–to drive growth via new client acquisition, awareness building, strategic partnerships and physical expansion. He previously worked as production director with events firm 6UP Productions and producer with creative agency MKG….
Light Iron, a provider of innovative postproduction creative services and part of Panavision’s end-to-end offerings for content creators, has promoted co-founder Katie Fellion to sr. VP, business development and postproduction strategy. Fellion has been with the company since it began operations in 2009 and was instrumental in establishing Light Iron’s Outpost mobile dailies systems. In her time with Light Iron, Fellion has also produced several firsts in file-based finishing, including the first 6K DI, the first studio feature cut on Final Cut Pro X, and Amazon’s first HDR series. In her new role, she is responsible for global sales and business development, new market strategies, and strategic alignment with Panavision so clients can maximize the value proposition of the companies’ shared production-to-post offerings….
Bazaarvoice, Inc.–an Austin, Texas-headquartered company deploying technology, services and expertise to enable brands and retailers to tap into the full potential of user-generated content–has named Zarina Lam Stanford as its chief marketing officer. Stanford was previously chief communication and marketing officer of Rackspace Technology and held sr. sales and marketing exec positions at IBM and SAP….
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