Melissa Gilbert officially becoming president of the Screen Actors Guild after winning the much publicized rerun election could bode well for the ultimate passage of the deal negotiated last month between SAG and the Association of Talent Agents. The proposed new SAG/ATA franchise agreement would permit ad agencies and certain sized production companies to hold limited ownership stakes in talent agencies…Director Tom DeCerchio and executive producer Tamsin Prigge have launched Incubator Films, Los Angeles. DeCerchio was last affiliated with bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander….Director Tuesday McGowan has signed with Picture Park, Santa Monica and Boston. She was previously on the roster of New York-headquartered Curious Pictures….The Syndicate, a Santa Monica-based visual effects/telecine shop, has opened under the aegis of three partners: colorist Beau Leon, fomerly of R!OT Santa Monica; executive producer Ken Solomon, who was most recently on staff at now defunct Western Images; and director of new business Leslie Sorrentino, who had been at since closed 525 Studios. Additionally, Computer Café has merged its Santa Monica CGI/effects studio into The Syndicate….Editor Cary Gries has joined Version2. Editing, New York. Gries will also work with Liquid Light, Version2’s finishing and design house. Gries joins Version2 from Ghost Light Editorial, New York ….Flipside Editorial has added editors Hank Polonsky, Tracy Hof and Natasha Uppal to its Santa Monica office. Flipside’s San Francisco operation has brought on lead animator Nathaniel Hunter….Andrew Orloff has joined digital visual effects studio Radium as head of CG in its Santa Monica office and will work closely with Andrew Sinagra, who serves as head of CG at Radium, San Francisco. Also, visual effects artist Steve Meyer has come aboard Radium….…Ron Fricke has wrapped second unit directing and shooting for Francis Ford Coppola’s independent feature which has a working title of Megalopolis. Scheduled for release next year, the project was shot on HD. Director Fricke is now again available for commercials via exec producer Mike Brady at bicoastal Believe Media….
Alec Baldwin Sues For Malicious Prosecution After Judge Dismissed “Rust” Case
Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a civil lawsuit for malicious prosecution and civil rights violations in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of the Western movie "Rust." The lawsuit was filed Thursday at state district court in Santa Fe, where a judge in July dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter against Baldwin in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin also alleges defamation in the suit, saying that prosecutors and investigators intentionally mishandled evidence as they pursued the case. Defendants named in the lawsuit include special prosecutor Kari Morrissey and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, along with three investigators from the Santa Fe County sheriff's office and the county board of commissioners. "Defendants sought at every turn to scapegoat Baldwin for the acts and omissions of others, regardless of the evidence or the law," the lawsuit states. It also says prosecutors and investigators targeted Baldwin for professional or political gain. Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during a rehearsal for the movie "Rust" in October 2021 at a film-set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer, was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when it discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired. Baldwin's trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers say investigators "buried" the evidence in a separate case folder and filed a... Read More