Word is that director Keir McFarlane is joining bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander….Director Steve Ramser is now working under the banner Lotion, which also represents directors Luca Maroni, Frank Samuel and Jelle Oortman Gerlings; Ramser’s previous shop, Unscented, was in affiliation with now defunct The End. Lotion is based in West Hollywood….Feature film and music video director Alison Maclean has signed with Park Pictures, New York, for commercials and music videos. This is the first spot representation for Maclean, whose credits include directing the ’99 feature Jesus’ Son and the ’92 feature Crush….Director Danny Weisberg, formerly of Hollywood-based Orbit Productions, is joining Crash Films, Santa Monica….Compass Films, New York, has signed director Magnus Wikman….Composer/sound designer David Logan has joined Amber Music, New York and London…. Composer Ron Steele Jr. of Chicago-based I Dig Music has joined Chicago-based music house Comtrack….Chris Laite has joined Moving Images, New York, as senior editor. Laite spent the past 16 years at Manhattan Transfer, New York, most recently as an editor….Editors Lance Pereira and Hal Honigsberg have teamed with executive producer Deanne Mehling to launch Santa Monica-based editorial house Chrome….Documentary filmmaker Jessica Yu of non•fic•tion spots, Santa Monica, has wrapped directing an episode of The West Wing, and is again available for spot assignments….The Angelciti Film Festival 2001, recently wrapped in Los Angeles, has named 12 as the year’s best experimental film. The comedy was written, produced, directed, shot and edited by Larry Bridges, president of Red Car, which has editorial houses in Santa Monica, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Dallas. (The company has also just expanded into Canada via a link with Toronto-based Johnson/Burnett; see separate story, p. 7). The festival cut of 12 is a little over two hours; the director’s cut is in excess of three hours….
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