Director Steve Beck has come aboard bicoastal/international Believe Media. Most recently with bicoastal Reactor Films, Beck is best known for his effects-driven directorial work. Earlier this year, Beck helmed the feature film Ghost Ship, slated for theatrical release Oct. 25….Director Blair Hayes is set to join Area 51 Films, Santa Monica….Park Pictures, New York, has inked director Lara Shapiro for spots….Dan Bryant has been named COO/ executive producer of Backyard Productions, the Venice, Calif.-headquartered production house with an office in Chicago. His primary responsibilities are to grow and manage Backyard Productions and its existing divisions, including Transistor Studios and Backyard Entertainment, plus another new division to be announced shortly. He will be working in partnership with Backyard founders Blair Stribley and Roy Skillicorn….Studio V-12, Santa Monica, best known as a design/production company, has launched a commercial division, V12 Commercials. The new venture recently hired Bill Hewes to serve as executive producer and added director Linzi Knight, formerly repped by Reactor Films….. D’Arcy Masius Benton and Bowles will be absorbed by several agencies, including Publicis Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi and Leo Burnett USA, as part of a reorganization by Paris-headquartered Publicis, parent company to the ad shops….Mixer Jason Seidman has come aboard Photomag, New York….Joe Sweet, the copywriter who played a key role in the creation of "The Hire" series of Web-based short films for BMW, died Oct. 4 while attending a media trade show in Cannes. He was 43. Sweet’s contributions leading to the genesis of "The Hire" came while he was a group creative director at Fallon Minneapolis. He left that ad shop earlier this year, devoting himself to the making of his own movie. Sweet’s wife, Germaine, has set up a memorial fund. Contributions can be sent to the Joe Sweet Film Fund, 3820 Vincent Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn. 55410…. Florida-based Flame artist/designer Bob Geuder died suddenly on October 4 while vacationing on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire. Geuder was slated to become creative director at MT-Miami—the postproduction division of BVI LLC, Coconut Grove, Fla., acquired through its merger with Manhattan Transfer-Miami (SHOOT 4/17, p. 1). Most recently, Geuder had worked as a Flame artist/designer with Coconut Grove-based Deep Blue Sea—a visual effects house under the aegis of BVI LLC….
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