The Lively Group family of companies–which includes design/visual effects/animation studio Spontaneous, editorial/post house BlueRock, and beauty and luxury shop Scarlett which specializes in conceptual design, VFX and photo-real CG–has hired Chloe Sedelmaier to serve as sr. sales agent, Sedelmaier has worked in business development at Taylor James and Bang Music + Audio Post, and as a sales rep at Launch and Über Content.,,,LOGAN, a bicoastal content-creation studio, has appointed Marie Soto as an EP. She will head up sales and business development at LOGAN and its live-action division Logan & Sons. Prior to LOGAN, Soto was an EP at Omnicom Group, @radical.media, Accent Media and Belief Design. Soto, who has assembled and led creative teams in the U.S., Europe and South America, arrives with a deep and varied background in live action, design, visual effects and post. Her work spans clients such as Nike, Subaru, Infiniti, Visa and 20th Century Fox….ICM Partners is now representing costume designer/stylist Mobolaji Dawodu for commercials, music videos, and features exclusively….Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) has booked cinematographer Sam Levy on the HBO series Crashing, and DP Blake McClure on season four of Comedy Central’s Drunk History. On the theatrical feature front, DDA has booked DP Paul Cameron, ASC on The Commuter (director Jaume Collet-Serra, Lionsgate), and production designer Hannah Beachler on Black Panther (director Ryan Coogler, Marvel/Disney). DDA also has three cinematographer clients with features that premiered at the soon-to-wrap Cannes Film Festival. DP Giles Nuttgens shot Hell or High Water screened in the Un Certain Regard category; Bob Gantz, ASC shot Blood Father which screened Out of Competition as did Hands of Stone which was lensed by DP Miguel “Ioan” Littin Menz…..
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More