Production company Mutt Film, headed by EPs and owners Beth George and Shannon Lords-Houghton, has secured Emily Friendship of the newly opened firm Commonwealth for East Coast representation….
Yacht Club, a full-service Brooklyn, NY-based production company with in-house VFX and CGI, has set its new U.S. sales lineup: Sharon Lew of Lew & Co handles the East Coast; Dave Campbell of Rogue Rep covers the West Coast; and Jack Reed of Jack Reed Reps takes on the South and Texas. The Yacht Club roster is comprised of director/DP Jake Ladehoff and director/DP/editor Matt Morgan along with non-exclusive relationships with directors Michael Lukk Litwak and Fidel Ruiz Healy….
Stephen Arnold Music has promoted Noelle Alanis to VP, sales & licensing. Alanis will oversee all sales and licensing efforts for original music, sonic branding, syndicated music packages and production music. She will lead the studio’s national sales team, direct new business strategy and manage client relations. Alanis has been with Stephen Arnold Music since 2010 and previously served as director of sales and licensing. Her expertise encompasses music licensing for advertising, enterprise, broadcast, digital and entertainment media. During her tenure, she has been instrumental in more than doubling the studio’s number of clients and driving revenue growth. A graduate of Butler University, she began her career in sales with WXIN-TV, Indianapolis….
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