Sibling Films, an independent creative production company partnering with clients like Nike, HPE, and Lexus, has added Nic Barnes as its new live-action East Coast executive producer.
Barnes brings to Sibling Films over 20 years of experience working in broadcast, film and VFX. Her previous roost was The Mill+ where she held the position of sr. content producer for a decade.
As part of The Mill team, she helped produce the PETA "98% Human" film that took home numerous awards including the Gold Cannes Lion for Film Craft: Visual Effects. She was also a part of the Hallmark "Mother Bird" shoot that won the AICP Show Animation award, Bronze Clio, and Hugo Gold Plaque.
Joe Wright, co-founder and CCO at Sibling, said of Barnes, “Bringing decades of experience in the industry, she will be responsible for bolstering our live-action production team on the East Coast. Together with our recent hire of Darren Foldes as MD/EP based in Los Angeles, Nic will help to bridge the coasts, opening up a multitude of new opportunities for Sibling Films.”
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