Hybrid Edit + Content has secured Perry Tongate of Perry Reps for sales representation in the Texas and Southeast territories. West and East Coast sales are handled by executive producer Gail Butler….Imaginary Forces (IF) is expanding its reach within the video game industry by naming Derek C. Smith as the studio’s new director of business development, gaming. With over 15 years of experience working in interactive entertainment, Smith has extensive expertise within every facet of the video game production process, from testing and publishing to development. Smith has produced a number of top video game titles, overseeing a diverse array of artists, during his recent five-and-a-half-year tenure with Sony Computer Entertainment America as associate producer. Smith first met IF’s team when collaborating on main, end and flashback sequences for the PlayStation3 games God of War III and God of War: Ascension. Impressed by IF’s stylized, cinematic work, he fostered a working relationship with the IF team while at Sony….Kevin Batten and his Pop-Arts Management are now handling representation on the West Coast for Venice, Calif.-based VFX studio Brewster Parsons….Carlos Penny has joined Oishii Creative as head of business Development. He comes to the creative agency with more than a decade of business development experience, including positions at production companies SD MEDIA and FILTER. Penny’s hiring signals Oishii Creative’s continued evolution, embracing strategic partnerships with a focus on multidisciplinary talent and investing in proprietary technology, mobile video and multi-channel networks….Below-the-line talent agent Kirk Orlando has launched Orlando Agency in Sherman Oaks, Calif. Unlike his previous company Orlando Management, which exclusively represented DPs and production designer, Orlando Agency also carries new below-the-line talent categories. The Orlando Agency roster represents editors, costume designers, hair & make-up artists, production sound mixers and script supervisors for commercials and music videos. Several DPs are also available as directors/cameramen through the agency….
Review: Director Ben Taylor’s “Joy”
Toward the end of Netflix's "Joy," the muffled cry of a newborn baby prompts a man and woman in a hospital to embrace out of pure bliss. They aren't the parents, but they had as much to do with the birth as the mom and dad.
This charming and winning movie charts the decade-long true story of how the world's first IVF baby was born in England in 1978 — a 5-pound, 12-ounce girl who paved the way for millions more. It's an upbeat, very English affair, mixing sober discussion of endometriosis with chocolate biscuits.
The couple embracing that day were pioneering scientist Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, a young nurse and embryologist. Together with surgeon Patrick Steptoe, the trio succeeded with in vitro fertilization, a method of treating infertility. Edwards would go on to win the Nobel Prize.
"Joy" has been birthed at a time when science is under threat in America — even IVF — so it's downright inspiring to see plucky, smart scientists working hard to change the world. "What we're doing, it matters," says Steptoe, played with quiet economy by Bill Nighy.
"Joy" is the personal stories of the three scientists — mostly through the eyes of Purdy, a polite lab-coated warrior. "If I hear a commotion, I'm not very good at staying out of it," she says. Perfectly played by Thomasin McKenzie, Purdy is both vulnerable and strong, learning through the process to be a better human. James Norton plays Edwards with charm, self-doubt and calm spirit.
Jack Thorne's script nicely explains the massive pressure the trio faced. IVF may have become common and uncontroversial over the last decades, but back in the late '70s it was experimental and shunned. The Anglican church called it a sin, the newspapers labeled it Frankenstein-ish and other... Read More