Clare O’Brien has joined New York-based creative studio Bonfire as head of sales. She comes to Bonfire from Alkemy X, where she was VP of business development. The move reunites her with Bonfire partner and managing director Jason Mayo, with whom she worked while in sales positions with Chimney and Postal. A native of Los Angeles, she began her career as a graphic designer and segued into producing while at Quietman in New York. She then made the transition into sales when she moved to audio post and mixing house Sonic Union. Bonfire was launched in 2016 by Flame artist and partner Brendan O’Neil. O’Brien will represent him and the studio’s other creative talents, including creative directors Aron Baxter and Gene Nazarov and colorist Dario Bigi, as well as market its proprietary Bonfire Platform system for remote, cloud-based visual effects, design, animation and finishing….
Cinematographer Joshua Zucker-Pluda is now a client of ICM Partners. His latest project is Devs, a new sci-fi TV miniseries created by Alex Garland, now airing on FX and FX on Hulu. Zucker-Pluda is available for commercials and music videos….
Dalet, a provider of solutions and services for broadcasters and content professionals, has appointed Bea Alonso to serve as director of global product marketing. With strategic oversight of Dalet’s expanded product marketing team and technology partnerships, Alonso collaborates with Dalet product management, sales and corporate marketing groups to define and execute all go-to-market strategy plans across industries and verticals, shaping unique value propositions for news broadcasters, content owners and publishers, sports leagues and teams, as well as brands, corporate organizations, government agencies and institutions. Alonso spent the last two decades with technology vendors Avid and Grass Valley, joining Ooyala in 2016 to spearhead the media logistics business across the Asia Pacific region and ultimately leading the company’s product marketing team. Technologist Alonso is a frequent conference presenter and panelist on topics around evolving content supply chains, the business of content creation and distribution, and AI applications in the media industry. A champion of digital transformation, she was instrumental in evolving news, playout, production, postproduction and multi-platform content distribution workflows for leading media companies and brands including Fox Sports, VuClip, Discovery, Turner and the National Rugby League of Australia. Alonso serves as an advisory board member for the DPP and RISE, an advocacy group for women in broadcast. She is also part of the organizing team for the Barcelona Video Tech community and an IABM board member….
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