Jeff Labbé has departed Leo Burnett USA, Chicago, where he was a senior VP/creative director, to pursue directing….Director Sam Cadman has come aboard bicoastal Tool of North America for U.S. and Canadian commercial work….Bicoastal Headquarters has signed director Laurence Thrush for U.S. spot representation….Guzman, a directing team consisting of Russell Peacock and Connie Hansen, has come aboard Cielo Films, Santa Monica, for exclusive spot representation in the U.S. The New York-based duo is already well established in the European ad community, with representation via Premiere Heure, St. Cloud, France…. Noted DP Ivan Bird is now directing commercials via Serious Pictures, London. Bird will be handled in the U.S. by Paul Muniz of PMI Management, New York, who will rep him on the East Coast, and by Michel Waxman of MBW Represents, Venice, Calif., on the West Coast….Curious Pictures has added director/designer Josh Graham for commercial, music video and broadcast design work….Mother, London, has hired Linus Karlsson and Paul Malmstrom as creative directors of the agency’s as-yet-unopened U.S. outpost. The pair had previously been at Fallon, New York….Mallary Weintraub has been named head of production at San Francisco-based kaboom….Suzanne Rieger has been named executive producer at The Well, New York. She succeeds Wendy Bryant, who left to move back home to Portland, Ore. Rieger’s previous industry roosts include 89 Editorial and Final Cut, both in New York….Venice-based broadcast design house Stardust Studios is going bicoastal with the addition of a New York office slated to open Sept. 1. Company principal/president Matthew Marquis will executive produce for both offices, while his partner, creative director Jake Banks, will relocate to New York. East Coast staff also includes designer/2-D and 3-D animator Peter Conlon and producer Jenn Dewey. Meanwhile, added to the West Coast staff are art director Jason Doherty and designer/animator Neil Tsai….Rhythm Café, Chicago, has added Ralph Beerhorst for exclusive representation as a composer, producer and performer of music for TV and radio commercials….
Breakout Films and Major Takeaways From This Year’s Sundance Fest
Film wasn't the only thing on people's minds at this year's Sundance Film Festival, which comes to a close Sunday in Park City, Utah ( and online ).
The effects of the wildfires in Southern California loomed large, as did the bittersweet knowledge that this year will be the second to last Sundance based in Park City. Some films offered an escape from reality; others were a pointed reminder of the domestic and international political landscape, from transgender rights to the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways from the 41st edition of the festival.
The effects of the Southern California fires were deeply felt
The wildfires were still burning in parts of Los Angeles when Sundance began last week and reminders of its devastation were everywhere, even on screen. Max Walker-Silverman's "Rebuilding," starring Josh O'Connor as a cowboy who loses his ranch in a wildfire and forms a community with fellow survivors in a FEMA camp, hit close to home for many.
Filmmakers Meena Menon and Paul Gleason lost their home in Altadena where they filmed some of their zombie apocalypse movie "Didn't Die." Sundance artist labs head Michelle Satter lost her Palisades home as well. Satter had an audience of Sundance Institute donors in tears early in the festival while accepting an honor at a fundraising gala.
"It's a deeply devastating time for us and so many others, a moment that calls for all of us coming together to support our bigger community," Satter said. "As a friend recently noted, and I have to listen to this, 'Take a deep breath ... We lost our village, but at the end of the day we are the village.'"
The festival's move to another city dominated conversations
It was a topic... Read More