Bob Isherwood, New York-based worldwide creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi, has been named president of two juries for this year’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. He will head the film as well as the press & poster competition judging….Mark Egmon, executive producer at Chicago-based Freeman Pictures, has been named president of the Midwest chapter of the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP); the post was relinquished by Larry Byrne, who recently departed Chicago-based Ebel Productions to work as an executive producer at Ogilvy & Mather, Chicago….Bicoastal/international Satellite Films has signed directors Christophe Navarre, Pascual Sisto and Maggie Zackheim. The company has also formalized its longstanding relationship with stop-motion director/animator Mark Osborne….Publicly traded, New York-headquartered independent film distributor Overseas Filmgroup has changed its name to First Look Media to reflect the expanded scope of its operations. Part of the expansion includes an earlier referenced (Street Talk, 12/1/00, p. 38) bicoastal commercial production house, now called First Look Artists, headed by exec producer Randy Lippert and with a spot directorial roster consisting of feature film artists Julie Taymor, Julian Schnabel, Joan Chen, Lisa Krueger, Darren Keith and Marleen Gorris….Janet Eisner has joined bicoastal/international Partizan as executive producer/rep in charge of the shop’s newly formed music video division. She is based in Partizan’s Los Angeles office…. Director Noble Jones has signed with bicoastal Curious Pictures for spot and music video representation. Jones is repped in Canada by Revolver Film Company, Toronto…. Director Neil Tardio Jr. has joined Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart Commercials. He comes over from Fuel, Santa Monica….Editor Mike LaBellarte, former principal of now shuttered NuWorld Editorial has opened his own Chicago-based editorial house Outsider, which is also comprised of editors Tom Brasil and Amy Fleming, graphics designer Aharon Bourland and executive producer Rene Steinkellner…..Executive producer Michael Gresch has partnered with editors Jonathan Del Gatto, Lee Cowan and Mark Goodman to launch Santa Monica-based Terminal….The Filmworkers Club, Nashville, has added senior editor/Henry Infinity artist John Slinger to its staff. He comes over from Tele Edit, Minneapolis, prior to joining Filmworkers.…Rino Liberatore, one half of the former directing team that comprised now closed Two Olives, has partnered with executive producer Jeff Marpe to launch new Chicago-based production company Victor Films.…Billed as the first foreign commercial music production house to qualify for branch office status in the People’s Republic of China, Santa Monica-based Schtung Music has opened a studio in Shanghai. Schtung also continues to maintain offices in Hong Kong and Singapore….
