Irv Blitz is now directing through bicoastal HSI Productions. Prior to joining HSI, Blitz was represented by bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander….Word is that director Jeffrey Fleisig is leaving bicoastal Villains to join bicoastal/international Propaganda Films….Speaking of Villains, longtime freelance line producer Richard Goldstein has joined as executive producer of the company’s commercial division. He will serve alongside Villains’ executive producer/principal Robin Benson….Bicoastal/international entertainment marketing communications and design company Pittard Sullivan closed its doors last week. Its assets are reportedly in the process of being liquidated….Mono-monikered director Brando has come aboard New York-headquartered Shooting Gallery Productions….Griff Marshall, executive producer of San Francisco-based Jon Francis Films, has bought the shop from director Jon Francis and company board member Sandra Francis. Marshall has changed the production house’s moniker to Big Trout Pictures and has brought directors Timothy Roarke and Nike Preovolos on board to complement longstanding helmer Francis…..Animation director Frank Molieri has joned Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials, Hollywood….Bicoastal/ international Chelsea Pictures has signed London-based design group hi-res! (Florian Schmitt and Alexandra Jugovic) to its new Internet marketing division, Id…..Jeanine Pepler has left Chelsea Pictures, where she was head of the house’s Thru-line division, which reps feature directors for spots….Executive producer Kim Daniels, who was head of production at September Productions before it closed its Boston shop, has opened Kilowatt Films, Boston. Kilowatt reps director Maria LoConte….Editor Alan Morris, a former owner of Invisible Dog, New York, has joined Refinery, New York…..Music house Downtown Composers Collective, Brooklyn Heights, N.Y., has been launched by executive producers Bill Ronan and Trish Murray; it will rep established recording artists for spot projects….Composer/sound designer Ben Neill and executive producer Carolyn Sachs have opened Green Beet Productions, New York. The duo had been working on music and sound design for commercials under the banner Trillium Productions, New York….
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