Creative studio World Famous has secured Claire & Company for West Coast representation in commercials, broadcast, immersive and branded content….DP Gyula Pados has recently completed principal photography on The Maze Runner 2: The Scorch Trials directed by Wes Ball and starring Dylan O’Brien. Pados is now available for commercials, television, and feature films through The Skouras Agency, Santa Monica…DP Phil Méheux, BSC has signed with Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) for representation. Méheux will be feted with the honorary International Award at the 29th Annual ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography on Feb. 15 at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza. His career spans four decades and includes The Long Good Friday, The Fourth Protocol, GoldenEye and Casino Royale (2006). He was president of the BSC from 2002-2006. DDA has also booked DP Sam Levy on director Rebecca Miller’s feature Maggie’s Plan. DDA recent television bookings include DP Frank Perl on season 6 of Rizzoli & Isles (Network: TNT, Production Company: Warner Horizon Television); DP Ross Riege on the pilot for Quality Time (Network: TBS, Production Company: Entertainment One Television, Contend); DP Stephen St. John on splinter unit/inserts for the series Sleepy Hollow (Network: Fox, Production Company: K/O Paper Products); and costume designer Jill Lucas on season two of Murder In The First (Network: TNT, Production Company: TNT Originals)….Direct marketing firm Platinum Advertising has hired Bill Rowland as chief sales officer. He serves as a sr. corporate member at his new roost. Rowland co-founded a direct marketing company in 1999 that brought in more than $120 million in revenue. He also enjoyed success with direct sales in the healthcare industry as well as doing significant work for several Fortune 500 companies….
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