Director Malcolm Venville is said to have departed bicoastal/international Propaganda Films to join bicoastal 8Media….New York-based executive producer Bill Perna has exited bicoastal M-80….Laura Howard, formerly head of sales and client-direct business at bicoastal Tool of North America, is launching Los Angeles-based production company Slo Graffiti, a division of Palomar Pictures, Los Angeles….Simpson Films, New York, and director Jerry Simpson have gone independent, having ended an affiliation with bicoastal and Chicago-based Crossroads Films. Simpson Films is also currently seeking national representation after parting ways with Lew & Co., New York….Director Brian Scott Weber has joined No Prisoners, the Santa Monica shop headed by executive producer Bruce Martin….Word is that director Ashley Beck is joining Gas.Food & Lodging, Culver City, Calif….Director Tricia Caruso has signed with Highway 61, New York, for exclusive commercial representation. Also, executive producer Marc Rosenberg has come aboard the company as executive producer, succeeding Mark Jaffee, who recently left….Open Frame Productions, New York, has signed director Eric Barbier and the directing team Zoo for U.S. representation. Zoo is a three-man collective consisting of Julian Rambaldi, David Fauche and Mathieu Montovani. Based in France, both Barbier and Zoo are repped in Europe by Big Productions, Paris….Envision It, the Miami shop recently formed by Alana Rothlein, has signed directors Sylvie Jacquemin and Ana Coyne for spot representation….Riot, Santa Monica, has expanded its visual effects department, adding effects producer Alix Eglis and effects artist Claus Hansen….Editor Alan Nay has come aboard FilmCore, Santa Monica. He was with Pinnacle Studios, Seattle….Audio mixer Dona Richardson, formerly of AudioBanks, Santa Monica, has joined 48 Windows Music & Mix, Santa Monica….
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More