Directors Lisbon Okafor and Frank Ockenfels III have joined greatguns:USA, Santa Monica….Director Michael Fueter has joined Thomas Winter Cooke, Santa Monica, for U.S. representation….Director Gavin Bowden has signed with BlueYed Pictures for U.S. representation. The company has also added Brent Coert as executive producer. BlueYed has offices in Los Angeles, Tokyo and London….Director Stephen Kessler and Trio Films, Venice, Calif., have parted ways….Cut+Run, Santa Monica and London, has launched a music video division under the aegis of Endy Hedman, who will serve as executive producer of music videos. The new arm features editors Javier Alvarez, Giles Bury, Jeff Grippe, Jon Grover, Leo King, Jay Nelson, Philip Owens, Johanna Scott, Julian Traquille and Dayn Williams….Stacey Suplizio is joining Ohio Edit, New York, as executive producer. She replaces Marybeth Medernach, who remains a partner in the company, but is relinquishing executive producing duties to spend more time with her family. Suplizio was formerly a producer at BBDO New York….Dave Moore, who was formerly head of production at Quiet Man, New York, has joined Brandname. Moore will serve as executive producer for the Gotham-based visual effects boutique….Sound designer Bill Kovach, who had been at Swell, Chicago, has come aboard ARU Chicago….San Francisco audio post facility Crescendo! Studios has launched Resonante Music & Sound Design. The new Crescendo! division, also based in San Francisco, opens with Dave Baker as lead sound designer/composer. Baker had most recently been freelancing, but has a long track record with Crescendo!, moving up the ranks from assistant engineer to senior mixer. He later was briefly available for sound design projects through Red Car, San Francisco….Cara McKenney has joined Purple Cow Post, New York, as executive producer. She had been serving as an associate producer at Red Car, New York….Michael McCarthy has come aboard Brickyard VFX Atlantic, Boston, as visual effects and post producer. He joins Brickyard producers Kirsten Andersen in Boston, and Diana Young, who works out of the company’s Santa Monica office, Brickyard VFX Pacific….Hispanic market editorial shop Lucha Libre has opened its doors in Santa Monica. The shop launches under the aegis of co-owner/executive producer Natalia Berry, and editors Luis Lacau, Felipe Fenton, Celina Moreno, Gustavo Zambrano and Y El Sonamublo….Industry veterans Mitch Raboy, James Twomey and Mike Levesque Sr. have teamed up to open Mixopolis, an audio post/sound design company in New York….Ascent Media Group, Santa Monica, has named Ron Geller to the newly created position of senior VP, strategic planning and development. Geller and his team will have responsibility for the company’s long-range strategic planning process as well as provide leadership for the company’s business development activities, including acquisitions and divestitures, corporate alliances and strategic partnerships. Geller formerly served as an executive at Sony Pictures Digital….
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