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….
“Wicked,” “Shogun” Top SAG Awards With 5 Nominations Each
"Wicked" topped nominations to the 31st Screen Actors Guild Awards on Wednesday, landing a leading five nominations including best ensemble, and individual nods for Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande and Jonathan Bailey. Out-of-control wildfires that swept across Los Angeles and Southern California on Tuesday night forced the Screen Actors Guild to cancel its plans to announce the nominations live Wednesday morning. The nominations were instead issued by press release by SAG, which last year began a multiyear deal with Netflix to stream the awards. The smash hit musical "Wicked" saw its Oscar chances rise in nominations to the SAG Awards, one of the most predictive Academy Awards bellwethers. The movie's big morning — it even scored a nod for stunt ensemble — came after a celebratory night, too. The film was honored by the National Board of Review Awards in New York on Tuesday. The other nominees for best ensemble are: "Anora," "Conclave," "Emilia Pérez" and "A Complete Unknown." It was an especially strong showing for the Bob Dylan drama "A Complete Unknown." It came away with four nominations, including Timothée Chalamet for best male actor, and supporting nods for both Edward Norton and Monica Barbaro. The best male lead nominees were largely as expected: Adrien Brody ("The Brutalist"), Daniel Craig ("Queer"), Colman Domingo ("Sing Sing"), Ralph Fiennes ("Conclave") and Chalamet. Coming off her rousing victory at the Golden Globes, Demi Moore was among the nominees for best female actor in a leading role for "The Substance." She was joined by Erivo, "Emilia Pérez" breakout Karla Sofía Gascón, Mikey Madison of "Anora" and Pamela Anderson for "The Last Showgirl." Snubbed stars That surprisingly left out some big names.... Read More