Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL), the global children’s publishing, education and media company, has named Mary Beech as its chief marketing & transformation officer, effective January 1, 2022. Based in New York, Beech will assume a new role for the company and be charged with creating greater customer centricity, data-driven activations with a focus on digital, and connectivity throughout Scholastic to better serve educators, caregivers and children. She has been an independent director on Scholastic’s Board since 2018 – from which she will resign in advance of her new position which reports directly to CEO and president Peter Warwick. Beech has most recently served as the CEO of Sarah Flint, a direct-to-consumer, luxury footwear brand for women, where she was responsible for the growth of the brand and business. Prior to joining Sarah Flint in February 2020, Beech was the principal of MRB Brand Consulting, having also served as EVP and chief marketing officer of Kate Spade New York for seven years, where she was responsible for all aspects of marketing and communications for the brand. From 2000 to 2013, Beech held various management, marketing, licensing and brand management positions at The Walt Disney Company, including responsibility for the launch and growth of the Disney Princess brand. Her leadership at Disney culminated in her role as SVP, global licensing and marketing for Disney/Pixar Animation….
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More