Three executives from Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York, have left the agency to form their own boutique shop. Jason Gaboriau, a former VP/associate creative director, Charles Rosen, formerly director of new business development, and strategist Doug Cameron, are opening Amalgamated, a New York agency….Eric Silver, executive VP/creative director at Cliff Freeman and Partners, has also departed the agency. His plans were not known at press time….At its grand opening last week, Technicolor Creative Services/New York unveiled some new plans. For one, the new postproduction space in West Greenwich Village will also become home to Technicolor’s New York film laboratory, which will be relocated from midtown in 2004. The new post facility includes a 40-seat digital color timing theater, as well as telecine and Discreet Fire suites. The company will also be linked to the Technicolor Global Network, which will offer connectivity to other Technicolor facilities and clients; applications include review and approvals, and real-time collaboration. Additionally, the newest hire is Fire editor Cecil Hooker, formerly of wild(child) editorial, New York….Industry mainstay Larry Chernoff, founder of Encore Hollywood and R!OT Santa Monica, and co-founder of FilmCore, Santa Monica and San Francisco, is launching Larry Chernoff & Associates Post-Production Consulting, Los Angeles. He also serves as chairman of Ascent Media Creative Services Group. Additionally, Providence, R.I.-headquartered MTI Group Holdings Inc, a supplier of digital mastering software for postproduction, has appointed Chernoff to its board of directors. MTI Group Holdings is the parent company of MTI Film and MTI Machine Vision. MTI’s software offerings are scalable tools used for film and video image correction, conversion (format and standards) and conforming….The New York Production Alliance (NYPA) has added Anne Johnson and Carl Zucker to its executive committee. Johnson, who is a former president of IATSE Local 161, will also serve as NYPA treasurer, a post that was most recently held by Jennifer Freed of Trevanne Post and Trevanna.com. Freed will continue to serve as a VP of NYPA’s executive financial committee and board of directors. Zucker is VP of marketing for payroll company Media Services, New York….Spontaneous Combustion, New York, has shifted its management team. Maribeth Phillips will assume the role of managing director/executive producer, and Sally Kapsalis will take on the position of head of sales & strategic planning. Phillips had been serving as the company’s executive producer, while Kapsalis held the position of managing director….Andrea Allen, who was formerly with 11/11 Productions, New York, has joined Sideshow, a New York-headquartered creative services company. She will serve as executive producer and head up the shop’s new live-action production team…
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More