Director Paul Street has linked with bicoastal/international Believe Media for U.S. commercial representation. Street, who has not had a stateside spot roost for the past year-plus, maintains his own company, Streetlight Films, London, and Brisbane, Australia. The director’s prior affiliations include stints at Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago, and Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart Commercials. At press time, Street was in New Zealand helming a BMW campaign for Fallon, Minneapolis….Director Tom DeNolf has inked a deal with Shadow Pictures, New York, for spot representation….Smythe & Company, New York, has signed noted Brazilian composer/saxophone and flute player Zé Luis for spotwork….Industry veteran Joshua Touber, who most recently served as COO of Ascent Media Creative Services, is launching Touber Media Consulting, Los Angeles. He also continues as a principal in Los Angeles-based Virtuosity….Director Mike Overbeck has signed with San Francisco-based animation studio Wild Brain….Hal Goodtree has joined New York-headquartered production shop This Is TV as executive producer. Directors Lalli Jonsson, Wayne Maule, Denni Karlsson and Darren Ashton have also come onboard, joining This Is TV owner/director Conrad Fink for spotwork….Harvey Marco has been named creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif., where he will work closely with chief creative officer Steve Rabosky. Marco formerly served as a creative director at Fallon, Minneapolis….Atlanta-based Matthew Bunting has been promoted to VP/executive producer of Turner Network Television (TNT) on-air creative. Previously, he was director of entertainment promotion at the TNT marketing division where, most recently, he directed and produced Hard Starter, one of two TNT original "mini dramas"—short branded films that screened in theaters this summer. Bunting was a consultant on the second TNT branded film, The Drop, which was written and directed by Glen Owen of Santa Monica-based Storyville Pictures (SHOOT, 6/20, p. 7)….
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