Directing duo Big TV! (a.k.a. Andy Delaney and Monty Whitebloom) has come aboard Santa Monica-based harvest for exclusive spot representation in the U.S.….Bicoastal/international Believe Media has partnered with production executive Gower Frost and director Diane Van Ussel to form a satellite, Conceive Media, which currently reps Van Ussel and director Liz Hinlein. Frost is president of Conceive Media….Directors Wayne Isham and Darren Grant have joined RAW/Progressive Films, Hollywood, for commercials and music videos….Director Mehdi Norowzian of Joy Films, London, is leaving the roster of bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures, his longstanding roost for U.S. spot work, effective Aug. 1….Ari Merkin has joined Fallon, New York, as executive creative director. He was a VP/associate creative director at Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York….The New Jersey Motion Picture and Television Commission has survived extensive cutbacks in the state’s 2003-’04 fiscal year budget. The film commission has been allocated $406,000 in funding, the same amount as in fiscal year ’02-’03….Former creative director Chris Mosera has made the transition to directing full time, signing with IPS Productions, Valley Village, Calif. Mosera had most recently been with J. Walter Thompson, Denver….Cine/DRSA International, New York, has signed directors Jeremy Goodall and Greg Francois of Accelerator Films, Cramerview, South Africa, for U.S. representation….Passion Pictures, London, has signed directing duo John Williams and David Lea for commercial and music video representation….Visual effects compositor John Scheer has joined Company 3, Santa Monica….Lesley Robson-Foster has landed at R!OT, Santa Monica, as visual effects supervisor. Previously, she had held a similar post at R!OT Manhattan. Robson-Foster will work on commercials and music videos, as well as serve as visual effects supervisor and consultant for features and longform television….Catherine O’Donnell has joined music/sound design shop barton:holt, Culver City, Calif., as producer….Sparks Productions, Toronto, has entered into an agreement with ARF & Co., Hoboken, N.J., to represent director/ cameraman Alex Fernbach exclusively in Canada. Additionally, director Jim Manera has returned to Sparks for Canadian representation after a brief sabbatical. Manera and executive producer Tracy Hauser recently launched blindfaith, a production company based in Santa Monica….Bicoastal Face The Music has hired Chris Doyle as executive producer at its Santa Monica office. Also joining the West Coast base of operation is composer Ben Wise….Comedy director James Tooley has signed with Los Angeles-based The Mine for exclusive spot representation…. Dennis Myers has been promoted to general manager of Colorado FX, Santa Monica….Colorist Jeff Bauman has come aboard Atlanta-headquartered Crawford Post Production…. Bicoastal Hornet Inc. has added creative director Tim Brown…. Animation director Jeff Drew has joined Duck (formerly Duck Soup Studios), Los Angeles….
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