Joanne Ferraro is joining The Blue Rock Editing Company, New York, as executive VP. She had been managing director of bicoastal Coppos Films….Jon Kamen, chairman of bicoastal/international @radical.media, received the Jay B. Eisenstat Award at this week’s Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) Show. Named for an AICP founding father, the award, the highest honor the AICP bestows, recognizes outstanding contributions and distinguished service to the field of spot production….David Lubars is joining BBDO as chairman/ chief creative officer for North America. He had been president/ executive creative director of Fallon North America. Ted Sann, who had been vice chairman/chief creative officer for BBDO North America, and chairman/chief creative officer at BBDO New York, is leaving the agency. His future plans were not known at press time….Visual effects artist Mark Larranaga has partnered with film/music video producer Edy Enriquez, as well as industry vets Chris Bell and Howard Dubin to form visual effects company X-1fx. The new venture is located within the same West Los Angeles facility that houses music/sound design shop Chris Bell and Company, as well as audio post house Mike Recording Services. The latter two businesses are headed by Bell and Dubin….Director Charlie Tercek, a member of the Group101Spots class of 2003, has signed with West Hollywood-based production house Nydrle for representation in commercials…. Directors Jeremy Goodall and Fiona MacPherson have joined Freshwater Films, Rivonia, South Africa….Maru Benjamin has joined Carbo Films, Venice, Calif., as executive producer. Additionally, directors Fernando Vallejo and Henry Meziat have joined the shop for representation in the Hispanic market….Sparks Productions, Toronto, has signed director Peter Corbett for Canadian spotwork. Corbett is the founder/president of New York-based visual effects/animation studio Click 3X.…Editor Nicholas Wayman-Harris, founder of London shop NWH, has moved to Southern California and joined FilmCore, Santa Monica. NWH, which Wayman-Harris launched in ’90, will continue to operate with its remaining staff, which includes four editors….
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