Los Angeles-headquartered Top Dog Films, a division of bicoastal RSA USA and London-based RSA Films, has signed filmmaker Martin Scorsese for exclusive commercial representation…. At press time, director Tenney Fairchild of bicoastal M-80 Films and his producer, Glenn Rudoloph, were recuperating at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles, after a car accident that occurred last Saturday (8/4). Both are expected to make a full recovery, according to M-80 executive producer Gregg Stern. Fairchild was scheduled to embark on a Hyundai job at the time of the accident; filling in for him on the assignment is director Thom Higgins….Bicoastal production house Here And Now has opened with a directorial roster that includes Keva Rosenfeld, Brian Ades, Nick Quested and Danny Weisberg. The shop also handles director Louis Ng on the East Coast. Here And Now is part of the Stoney Road family of companies….Director Clark Anderson, formerly of Rhythm & Hues, Los Angeles, has joined Ka-Chew!, the recently launched live-action commercial division of Hollywood animation studio Klasky Csupo. Also jumping aboard Ka-Chew! is director Bil White, who shifts over from sister spot animation shop Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials….Itemus, the Toronto-based parent company to the recently shuttered Shooting Gallery Inc., has filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada….Lee Garfinkel is joining D’Arcy as president/chief creative officer, worldwide. Based in New York, he becomes part of a trio serving in the agency’s newly configured office of the president, joining president/CEO John Farrell and president/chief branding officer Susan Gianinno. Garfinkel most recently served as chairman, chief creative officer at Lowe Lintas & Partners…. John Butler, co-founder of Sausalito, Calif., agency Butler Shine & Stern, has been elected president of the board of directors of the One Club for Art and Copy, the New York-headquartered nonprofit group that promotes creativity in advertising….Gary Ward, former executive producer/partner of the recently closed Crash Films, has been named executive producer of Mad River Post/Santa Monica….Thom Sidoti, a well-known line producer, has become executive producer at Copper Media, the West Hollywood-based production house headed by president Mel Gragido….Composer Klaus Badelt has joined Santa Monica-based music and sound design company Primal Scream…. Seattle-headquartered design house Theorem has added designer Ludovic Schorno, and expanded into Southern California with the launch of a studio in Culver City….
Gene Hackman’s Estate Asks Court To Block Release Of Death Investigation Records
A representative for the estate of actor Gene Hackman is seeking to block the public release of autopsy and investigative reports — especially photographs and police body-camera video — related to the recent deaths of Hackman and wife Betsy Arakawa after their partially mummified bodies were discovered at their New Mexico home last month. Authorities last week announced that Hackman died at age 95 of heart disease with complications from Alzheimer's disease as much as a week after a rare, rodent-borne disease — hantavirus pulmonary syndrome — took the life of his 65-year-old wife. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity on Feb. 18, indicating an abnormal heart rhythm on the day he likely died. The couple's bodies weren't discovered until Feb. 26 when maintenance and security workers showed up at the Santa Fe home and alerted police — leaving a mystery for law enforcement and medical investigators to unravel. Julia Peters, a representative for the estate of Hackman and Arakawa, urged a state district court in Santa Fe to seal records in the cases to protect the family's right to privacy in grief under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution — emphasizing the possibly shocking nature of photographs and video in the investigation and potential for their dissemination by media. The request, filed Tuesday, also described the couple's discrete lifestyle in Santa Fe since Hackman's retirement. The state capital city is known as a refuge for celebrities, artists and authors. The couple "lived an exemplary private life for over thirty years in Santa Fe, New Mexico and did not showcase their lifestyle," said the petition. New Mexico's open records law blocks public access to sensitive images, including depictions of people who are... Read More