MPC NY, headed by managing director Justin Brukman, has bolstered its 3D team with the addition of Rob Petrie as CG creative director. Petrie comes to MPC by way of The Mill where he’s built his career since 2002. Honing his skills in the London 3D department, Petrie crossed the pond to The Mill NY in 2008 where he has played a fundamental role in shaping the CG department as head of 3D, and most recently, as creative director at Mill+.
Highlights for Petrie include his work on AT&T’s charming “Birthday” spot, and concepting and directing Company of Heroes’ “Western Front Armies” live action trailer, as well as co-directing DOOM’s teaser. He has worked with such notable directors as Peter Thwaites, Fredrik Bond, Noam Murro and Nicolai Fuglsig. Petrie’s work for OFFF Paris earned him a Cannes Gold Lion in Design.
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
