DP Lidia Nikonova has signed with Innovative Artists for commercial and narrative representation. Nikonova is based in Los Angeles and has shot with artists such as The Weeknd, Lil Yachty, L. Devine, Baauer, and Madame Gandhi. On the commercial side, she has worked for brands including Vans, Aeropostale, Complex Magazine, and Rudy’s Barbershop….
LYNX Technik AG, a global manufacturer of signal processing solutions for broadcast and ProAV has appointed Daniel Kubitza as director of sales. In this position, he will leverage his extensive broadcast industry background to work closely with the LYNX Technik sales team to provide comprehensive technical support to the company’s partner and distribution network. Prior to joining LYNX Technik, Kubitza most recently led a team in the KSC Systems Department at BFE Studio and Medien Systems, a systems integration company offering IT-based studio and media technology solutions, project management and consulting services as well as configuration and commissioning of new projects. During his time at BFE Studio and Medien Systems, he was responsible for revenue, strategic planning and business development, supporting customer needs and projects. Kubitza is based in LYNX Technik’s headquarters in Weiterstadt, Germany….
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More