Putting a Human Face on Stop Motion, Living it Up, People in the News
PUTTING A HUMAN FACE ON STOP MOTION In order to show a female puppet transform from wholesome to sexy upon her washing in the wilderness with a black bar of Lux soap, Portland, Ore.-based animation studio Bent Image Lab brought a live-action dimension to its established stop motion fare. Bent Director Chel White meshed a digitally manipulated live-action face with a stop motion puppet hair and body. “It was a great chance to try something completely new, and it has lots of potential for future projects,” said White, who credits Bent Executive Producer/Co-director Ray Di Carlo with dreaming up the technique that humanizes animated characters. Titled “Provocateur,” the spot from agency Santo Argentina starts out like an innocent fable but takes a darkly seductive detour as a charming Swiss village turns into a seedier town. The DP was Mark Eifert; stop motion animators were Jeff Riley and Jerold Howard.
LIVING IT UP The LvngRm (the living room) is a new editorial/design/finishing shop now operating in Atlanta. Its founding partners are managing director Dave Warner, VP of Accounts Melissa Donovan, VP/Executive Producer Nat Zimmerman and Lead Motion Designer and Animator Jim Bowhall. The company opens with Commercial Editors Shannon O’Brien and Lisa Olshanski. O’Brien comes to the studio having worked most recently at New York-based Berwyn Editorial where spot work included Volvo, Coppertone and Subway. Olshanski was previously one of Mad River’s editors, having worked with clients such as Garnier, HBO and T.J. Maxx…..
PEOPLE IN THE NEWS Post house Optimus, with bases of operation in Chicago and Los Angeles, has brought Editor Shira Ankori on board. Ankori, who was previously at Red Car, Santa Monica, will be based in Optimus’ Southern California shop but also available out of the Chicago facility. Her clientele at Red Car included Sony, Toyota, Wal-Mart and The Los Angeles Times. Ankori’s 10-year editing career began at Pi Edit Company, New York, followed by eight years at Red Car, the first four working out of that company’s New York house. A New York City native, Ankori is a graduate of Boston University’s College of Communications where she majored in film. In addition to her career as an editor, Ankori works as a voiceover actor. She also has an extensive background in dance, having studied at the world-renowned School of American Ballet and famed High School of Performing Arts in New York City. She now joins an Optimus roster of editors that includes Justin Amore, Grant MacDowell and Jim Staskauskas in Los Angeles, and Tim Kloehn, Craig Lewandowski, Steve Mach, Jan Maitland, Randy Palmer, Katherine Pryor, Deb Schimmel, Glorily Velez and Kate Wrobel in Chicago…..Burlington, Mass.-based data management company Signiant announced that Thomas A. Ohanian has joined its executive management team as vice president of product management. Ohanian is perhaps best known as one of Avid Technology’s earliest employees and a developer of the Avid Media Composer nonlinear editing system. He is an Academy Award and a two-time Emmy recipient for technical innovation….Stockholm-headquartered Digital Vision appointed Simon Cuff to the position of president/COO. Cuff, who joined Digital Vision upon the company’s acquisition of Nucoda in early 2005, replaces outgoing president/COO Robert Ekström. Cuff will manage Digital Vision’s worldwide team from the company’s London office.
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