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…
Actor Steve Guttenberg Returns To L.A. Neighborhood Now Charred By Devastating Wildfire
Steve Guttenberg awoke Thursday morning to a grim reality: The treacherous wildfire that tore through the Pacific Palisades had left his once-lush neighborhood charred and unrecognizable.
With homes smoldered, streets emptied and friends scattered by evacuation orders, Guttenberg counted himself among the fortunate. His property was miraculously spared. But the actor-producer still struggled to reconcile his relief with the haunting sight of his ravaged, once lavish community.
"Just this morning, I woke up and I was really conscious of my mental state and my mental health, because the last three days, I've seen so much tragedy," said Guttenberg, pacing through the ruins of his neighborhood. He said his home has electricity but no running water.
Guttenberg thanked God that his block was safe, but he said about 20 homes were burned "pretty bad" in his 80-home community after wind-whipped fires tore across Los Angeles, destroying homes, clogging roadways as tens of thousands fled as the fires burned uncontained Wednesday. He said the fires are the worst he's ever seen in his 66-years.
The wildfires have burned the homes of several celebrities including Billy Crystal, Carey Elwes and Paris Hilton.
Guttenberg said he never expected all of this to happen.
"It's like when someone dies suddenly," he said. "It's like when someone gets hit by a car. You never expect that to happen. That's how shocking it was."
During Guttenberg's stroll, it was an eerie scene with scorched palm trees, homes reduced to ash and rubble, and the daytime skies casted an ominous twilight over the devastation.
"I've seen people scared, people in wheelchairs, mothers and fathers trying to find their kids, people having anxiety and panic... Read More