The management team at bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures—president Steve Wax, managing director Allison Amon and executive producer Lisa Mehling—has reached an agreement to acquire what’s described as a "significant" ownership stake in the company from publicly held, Minneapolis-headquartered iNTELEFILM Corp. The deal takes Chelsea Pictures off of the sales block; earlier this year, iNTELEFILM had announced that it was considering selling its commercial production house subsidiaries, including Chelsea Pictures (SHOOT, 5/4, p. 1)….San Francisco-headquartered interactive firm Red Sky has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and plans to reorganize. According to a Red Sky spokesperson, Seneca Investments LLC, an e-services holding company, will purchase Red Sky’s assets pending approval by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in New York. Seneca is a joint venture between Omnicom Group and Pegasus Partners II, an investment company based in Greenwich, Conn. The Red Sky spokesperson said that the company’s entertainment division—which was formed last fall after Red Sky acquired animation/effects/live-action studio Olive Jar, Boston and Burbank, and multimedia outfit White Noise, Los Angeles—would continue to operate….New York-headquartered Shooting Gallery is likely to file for bankruptcy protection, according to its parent company, Toronto-headquartered itemus, which is potentially liable for $10 million in Shooting Gallery debt. Virtually all of Shooting Gallery’s staffers were laid off at the end of June, some two months after itemus finalized its deal to acquire Shooting Gallery. Among the casualties was Shooting Gallery’s commercial and music video arm, Shooting Gallery Productions (SGP), which closed on June 26, despite having been a profitable operation (SHOOT, 7/6, p. 1)….Jeanine Pepler has joined bicoastal First Look Media as executive producer of the company’s commercial and Internet divisions: First Look Artists and First Look Internet, respectively. She replaces Linda Ross, who left First Look to pursue another opportunity….Director David Wagreich has joined Santa Monica-based Omaha Pictures. He was formerly represented by bicoastal/international @radical.media….The Directors Network, headquartered in Studio City, Calif., has signed directors Ron Ames and Allen Weiss to work in that freelance-director venue created by company founder/directors’ agent Steve Lewis. Ames and Weiss come over, respectively, from now defunct Crash Films and SGP….Writer/director/actor Alan Cumming has signed with bicoastal Zooma Zooma for spot representation. Cumming most recently co-produced, co-wrote and co-directed the feature The Anniversary Party with Jennifer Jason Leigh….Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart has signed director Simon Brand and entered into an alliance with his Miami-based production house, Kree8….Director/cameraman Serge Roman has joined Metro Pictures, Marina del Rey, Calif., for exclusive spot representation in the U.S….Chicago-based commercial music/sound design house Catfish Music has signed composer/musician Alex Kemp as a staff composer….In other Chicago news, post boutique Spots BME has added editor Mike Buhrow….Freelance agency producer Jane Jacobsen will become head of broadcast at Sedgwick Rd. (formerly McCann-Erickson), Seattle, effective Oct. 1….
Celebs Among Thousands Evacuated in Los Angeles Fires
Wildfires in and around Los Angeles have burned several celebrities' homes and forced stars including Mark Hamill, Mandy Moore and James Woods, to evacuate. Cary Elwes and Paris Hilton are among the stars who said Wednesday they had lost homes in the Palisades fire. California firefighters are battling wind-whipped fires tearing across the area, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled and straining resources as the fires burned uncontained Wednesday. The Pacific Palisades neighborhood is a hillside area along the coast dotted with celebrity residences and memorialized by the Beach Boys in their 1960s hit "Surfin' USA." In the frantic haste to get to safety, roadways became impassable when scores of people abandoned their vehicles and fled on foot, some toting suitcases. "Evacuated Malibu so last minute," wrote Hamill in an Instagram post Tuesday night. "Small fires on both sides of the road as we approached (the Pacific Coast Highway)." Less than 72 hours before, Hollywood's highest-wattage stars had convened to walk the Golden Globes' red carpet, the first major event of the exuberant and, for many, triumphant awards season. The revelry of awards season had quickly been snuffed out, too: Premieres of contenders like "Better Man" and "The Last Showgirl" were canceled, the Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations were announced via press release instead of at a live event and weekend events like the AFI Awards were preemptively scrubbed. The Oscar nominations are also being delayed two days to Jan. 19 and the film academy has extended the voting window to accommodate members affected by the fires. Here's how celebrities and entertainment companies are being impacted by the fires burning in and around Los... Read More