Director Samuel Bayer, who is repped by bicoastal RSA USA in the American ad market, has extended his relationship with the RSA family. Bayer has shifted his U.K. spot representation from Serious Pictures, London, to RSA Films, London….Greg Popp, senior VP/group executive producer at DDB Chicago, has made his solo directing debut with a new series of Budweiser commercials for the agency. Production was run through bicoastal Chelsea Pictures. Popp’s prior directorial endeavors had been in tandem with former DDB creative John Immesoete…Director Rebecca Blake has partnered with executive producer Mark Androw, principal in the Chicago-based The Story Companies, to launch commercial production house Rebecca Blake Films. The new shop is a satellite of The Story Companies. Blake and Androw plan to bring several other helmers on board, as well….Toronto-headquartered 3-D software developer Alias has finalized its acquisition of Kaydara, a Montreal-based company known for its real-time character animation and motion editing technology. The deal was announced this past summer during the SIGGRAPH confab in Los Angeles (SHOOT, 8/20, p. 1)….Juicy Fruit’s "Office Flage" won Best of Show honors for television at the Chicago Creative Club Awards, held Wednesday night (Sept. 29) at Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Blue Source of Blink USA, Venice, Calif., directed the ad, which was done via BBDO Chicago….
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More