Robert Walston, president of Liberty Livewire Corp., Santa Monica-headquartered parent company to a host of post/effects facilities worldwide, has added the title of CEO. He had been serving as acting CEO since April, following the departure of David Beddow. Liberty Livewire’s primary hubs of operation are Los Angeles, New York and London. Before joining Liberty Livewire in June 2000 as president and COO, Walston was chairman/CEO of Four Media Co., which is part of the Liberty family of companies….Redtree Productions, based in New York and Boston, has signed feature filmmaker Brad Anderson and director Mat Kaufman for spot representation…Bicoastal HSI Productions has renewed its strategic alliance with Hollywood-based Bitmax for another year. Per the deal, Bitmax remains the exclusive provider of all digital convergence and distribution for HSI, encompassing such services as putting directors’ work on DVDs and streaming helmers’ reels over the Internet. Bitmax maintains BAM! (Bitmax Asset Manager), an online ordering service that via the Internet connects clients to their digitally archived video files (SHOOT, 4/20, p. 7). This enables clients to order customized reels via the Web. Over the past six months, Bitmax has produced more than 40 DVD runs between 100 and 300 discs each for HSI and its affiliated bicoastal shops, Mars Media and Venus Entertainment….Electra Lang has been named executive producer of Pictures In A Row, the Los Angeles shop featuring director Peter Lang….Sound designer/engineer Eric Pilhofer has joined VoiceWorks Recording Studios, Minneapolis. He was formerly with Minneapolis-based Hi-Wire….
Damien Chazelle, Miles Teller, J.K. Simmons On The Return Of “Whiplash” To Theaters After 10 Years
Ten years after " Whiplash " took the film world by storm, Damien Chazelle's breakthrough feature is returning to theaters nationwide Friday.
In 2014, "Whiplash" was the ultimate indie movie Cinderella story — a Sundance discovery made by a 20-something that that would go on to become both a box office hit and an awards darling: It won three Oscars, including for J.K. Simmons ' portrayal of a semi-sadistic and ever quotable jazz ensemble instructor; launched Chazelle's directing career into the A-list stratosphere; and established Miles Teller as a next generation movie star. Now, audiences will get another chance to experience it on the big screen.
Chazelle, Teller and Simmons spoke recently about the re-release, their memories of the 20-day shoot (including when Teller accidentally broke his co-star's rib) and making something with staying power. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: What has it been like watching "Whiplash" settle into the culture in the past decade?
CHAZELLE: It's very cool, a little surreal. It doesn't feel like 10 years. It's fun to have a moment like this to relive it a little bit.
SIMMONS: It's sobering to know that I'm 10 years older. It's kind of shocking and kind of awesome that the movie actually holds up. I just saw it a few days ago in Toronto: That's a good piece of cinema.
TELLER: This is the first time I've ever had a movie re-released. I'm still fairly young into my career, but it's an incredible movie. The one thing that's frustrating for me is that people just yell out at me all the time, " not my tempo." So that's stuck around well.
SIMMONS: Maybe if you get the tempo... Read More