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…..
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