Noted snowboarding and skateboarding filmmaker Rob “Whitey” McConnaughy has signed with Hollywood-headquartered Believe Media for exclusive spot and music video representation in the U.S. and London. Believe also maintains offices in New York and London.
Among McConnaughy’s credits are a series of gritty and authentic skateboarding commercials he conceived, directed and edited for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. He’s also contributed to the MTV series Jackass, and its feature film spin-offs, as a creative consultant and cinematographer.
Originally from Washington, D.C., and now a Portland resident, McConnaughy started filming his skateboarding buddies as he pursued the sport himself, which led him to form his own production company, Kingpin Productions. Under that banner, he has directed assorted snowboard films. Early in his snowboarding career, he became the photo editor of Blunt, a snowboarding magazine owned by Big Brother Skateboarding Magazine. Here he also began shooting skateboarding and various forms of hi-jinx for the Big Brother videos which he collaborated on with Big Brother art director Jeff Tremaine (who is now repped as a spot director by Saville Productions, Beverly Hills; Tremaine recently gained inclusion into SHOOT’s 2006 New Directors Showcase). These videos served as a template of sorts for Jackass.
In addition to the aforementioned Nike package, McConnaughy has directed an EA Games commercial with skateboarding legend Tony Hawk. Believe partner/executive producer Luke Thornton envisions McConnaughy as being able “to present agency creatives with a distinctly different take on brands and how to articulate them for young audiences.”
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More