Executive producer Bryan Farhy and director Wayne Holloway have exited bicoastal Basecamp Entertainment….Curious Pictures, New York, has signed design and directorial collective panOptic for spots….Sydney, Australia-based director Paul Middleditch has joined bicoastal Public Works for exclusive commercial representation in North America….Director Brad Steward and executive producer Amber Ventris have teamed to launch Crova, a production house with offices in Santa Monica, and Portland, Ore. The new venture opens with a directorial roster that also consists of Matt Goodman and Jasan Radford…. Matthew Pomerans, formerly an executive producer at bicoastal/international Satellite, has joined Santa Monica-based Area 51 Films as an executive producer. Meanwhile, Mark Thomas continues as executive producer at Area 51, and now adds the title of managing director….Editor Bob Mori, formerly of Cosmo Street, Santa Monica, has joined Superior Assembly Editing Company, Santa Monica….Marc Schwartz has joined Fluid Post, New York, as managing director. Formerly, he was general manager at Spontaneous Combustion, New York.…Composer Mike Pandolfo has joined JSM, New York. He was formerly with Amber Music, New York and London….Editors Gavin Tatro and Angelo Valencia, and visual effects artist/graphics designer/compositor Eric Pham have come aboard 501 Post, Austin, Texas….Kelly Hickel, chairman of Paradise Music & Entertainment, has taken on the additional role of president at the publicly traded bicoastal company. Stepping down as Paradise CEO is David Pritchard, former CEO/president of North Hollywood-based animation studio Film Roman. Hickel—who is also chairman of iballMedia, a San Diego firm servicing consumers with traditional and online delivery of music and music-driven events—came aboard Paradise in February when the company reached a memo of understanding to merge with iballMedia. That merger will probably be finalized later this month. Paradise is the parent company to bicoastal spot production companies Straw Dogs and Shelter Films, as well as Nashville, Tenn.-headquartered music video/concert film/commercial house Picture Vision….
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More