Executive producers Jonathon Ker, Don Block and Rich Carter make for a Tight management team in Santa Monica. Tight is the moniker of a just launched production house that is a sister shop to Santa Monica-headquartered GARTNER….Director Frank Samuel, formerly of Santa Monica-based harvest, has joined bicoastal Headquarters….Director Mathew Lamb has come aboard bicoastal Notorious Pictures. He recently wrapped his directorial debut, a spot for TaylorMade Golf Clubs, for agency NYCA, Encinitas, Calif. At press time, he was about to embark on his second project for NYCA. Lamb first established himself as a visual effects artist, most recently with CreoCollective, Santa Monica…. Director Liz Hinlein has signed with New York-based Free Market Films, for U.S. representation….stimmüng, Santa Monica, and RMI, New York, have merged to become a bicoastal shop. The New York office—with owner/composer Robert Miller—will be titled RMI stimmüng, while the West Coast shop retains the stimmüng name, with Reinhard Denke as sound designer….Editor Val Thrasher, formerly of Rock Paper Scissors, Los Angeles, has joined Mad River Post, Santa Monica….Motion graphics designer and animator Zack Kinney has joined Click 3X, New York. He had previously been freelancing.…Siggy Ferstl has joined R!OT, Santa Monica as senior colorist. Prior to joining R!OT, Ferstl was head of telecine and film services at Digital Pictures Sydney for eight years….Shira Boardman has come aboard Los Angeles-based computer animation and visual effects shop SWAY Studio as its executive producer. She formerly served as executive producer at Los Angeles production house Japanese Monster….Producers Kathy Cogar, Dave Skaff and Anna McClelland have joined Radium, the digital effects studios with bases of operation in Santa Monica and San Francisco…..Discreet, the Montreal-headquartered subsidiary of Autodesk, saw the departure of general manager/Autodesk executive VP Paul Lypaczewski, who headed Discreet for roughly four years. According to a company spokesperson, Autodesk COO Carl Bass is overseeing Discreet, and a senior management search is underway….Director Jeff Brown, best known for his work with kids, has signed with Tag Team Films, Los Angeles, for exclusive representation….Another Country, Chicago, has promoted Ben Keller to sound designer/mix engineer….XL Films has added four directors for U.S. representation. Jim Barham, Dan Blust, Rodrigo Escobar Rodriguez and Ron Pippin will all be available for commercials via the Houston-based shop. Rodriguez will continue to maintain Rio Bravo Pictures, Pharr, Texas, while Pippin recently launched Shiny Object, a broadcast design firm in Austin, Texas. XL Films is headed by partner/director Scott Hulan Jones and president/executive producer Ken Kosub….
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