Burning Suits, LLC, a holding company, closed a transaction last week transferring ownership of New York Media Group (including Post Perfect, Lower East Side, East Side Mix, Superdupe Recording, Crush Digital Vido and arc.light) to a group that includes participation by David Carmen, Washington lobbyist and co-founder of bicoastal Anonymous Content, and post industry vet Steve Hendricks, former president/CEO of Virgin Digital Studios. Carmen and Hendricks, who are part of Burning Suits, will serve as chairman and CEO, respectively of New York Media Group….Italian director Luca Lucini has signed with Storm, Brooklyn, N.Y., for U.S. representation. Lucini helms non-U.S. spots through Film Master, Rome and Milan, Italy. Additionally, Budweiser’s "Whassup?" helmer, Charles Stone III, has finished directing the Dimension Films feature Paid In Full, and is once again available for commercials via Storm….At press time, feature filmmaker Martin Scorsese was shooting a spot project in New York via Los Angeles-headquartered Top Dog Films, a division of bicoastal RSA USA and London-based RSA Films. The assignment is for telecommunications company Orange out of Euro RSCG BETC, Paris….Director Tony Lee has joined Big Picture Communications, New York. Lee’s previous roost was the now defunct Barracuda Films…. Virginia Lee, who helms commercials in tandem with director Mark Coppos of bicoastal Coppos Films, has made her solo directorial debut on a Yoplait spot for DDB Chicago….Christie Cash, former executive producer at audio postproduction company AudioBanks, Santa Monica, has joined Crew Cuts/West, Santa Monica, as executive producer….Pat Joseph, a co-founder and part owner of The Mill, has been named managing director of the London-based visual effects/post company. Joseph will report directly to former managing director Robin Shenfield, who serves as group CEO. Back in February, original Mill founders Shenfield, Joseph and James Morris bought the company from outside investors….JSM, New York, has added Rene Arsenault and Michaelangelo L’Acqua, co-founders of Onda Productions, to its roster. Arsenault and L’Acqua, who are known for their remixes of runway shows and designers, will be producing industry music tracks for fashion and beauty accounts at JSM….
London Critics Name “The Brutalist” The Film of the Year
The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s immigrant saga, won the Film of the Year prize at the 45th London Critics’ Circle Film Awards.
While The Brutalist garnered just one award, it was the marquee honor. Meanwhile Nickel Boys, Conclave and A Real Pain all receivd multiple awards, and Zoe Saldaña was honored twice.
Edward Berger’s Vatican thriller Conclave took two awards for British/Irish Film of the Year and Actor of the Year for Ralph Fiennes, while RaMell Ross’s radical Colson Whitehead adaptation Nickel Boys was recognized with Director of the Year and the Technical Achievement Award for Jomo Fray’s first-person cinematography. Jesse Eisenberg’s dark comedy A Real Pain was the night’s other multiple prizewinner, landing Screenwriter of the Year for the actor-filmmaker, and Supporting Actor of the Year for co-star Kieran Culkin.
Payal Kapadia’s Mumbai-set drama All We Imagine as Light was named Foreign Language Film of the Year, while the Palestinian-Israeli collective behind No Other Land took Documentary of the Year.
Alongside Conclave, British productions awarded by the Circle in the top categories included Mike Leigh’s intimate character study Hard Truths, which took Actress of the Year for Marianne Jean-Baptiste, while Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl was named Animated Feature of the Year. In the British/Irish-specific categories, Saoirse Ronan won British/Irish Performer of the Year for her performances in The Outrun and Blitz, 14-year-old Nykiya Adams won Young British/Irish Performer of the Year for her screen debut in Andrea Arnold’s Bird, and Rich Peppiatt won the... Read More