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….
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