Lively Group, the New York-based creative collective, has hired Rob Morlano as executive director of new business development. He will spearhead Lively Group’s expansion into the long-format content world. Lively Group is a collection of companies that are creative leaders in branding, design, production, visual effects, and editorial. They’ve created and finished content for both emerging and established brands over their 25 years, and include the companies BlueRock, Spontaneous, Decibel, and Scarlett under its umbrella. Morlano spent the past 12 years at Technicolor PostWorks involved in both video and sound postproduction. Morlano has spent the last decade gaining experience across the markets of long-format programming, from unscripted and scripted content, to documentaries, feature films, and OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon, and other streaming services….
Dattner Dispoto and Associates has booked DP Giles Nuttgens on the feature film The Wedding Guest….
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More