Liz Myers of Trivers/Myers Music, Manhattan Beach, Calif., has been elected president of the Association of Music Producers’ (AMP) West Coast chapter. VP is Tom Seufert of Visual Music, Woodland Hills, Calif. Second VP is Peter Donald of 2beat Productions, Santa Monica. Secretary/treasurer is Judy Santi of Team Services, Burbank, Calif….Director/cameraman Richard Reens, formerly of Mirella Films, Hollywood, has joined Motel Films, Hollywood….Director Charlie Carlson, formerly of Compulsive Pictures, New York, has come aboard Big Apple-based Highway 61 for U.S. representation….Animation director Paul Griffin has come aboard CafeFX, the Santa Maria, Calif.-headquartered house with a studio in Santa Monica….Adam Isidore has joined New York-based Charlex as VP/executive producer. He was formerly VP/executive producer at BBDO New York….Amy Kindred, formerly executive producer at Charlex, has joined bicoastal Sideshow Creative, as executive producer of its commercial division….Moneyshots, Santa Monica, has named Paula Arnett its executive producer….Creative editing house Swell, Chicago, has hired Mike Czerniuk as creative director of its graphics division, Bazooka….Peter McHugh is leaving his post as partner/executive creative director at 180, Amsterdam, to join Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, as managing partner/chief creative officer….Harvey Marco has been named executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi LA, Torrance, Calif. He will work alongside chief creative officer Steve Rabosky on all creative initiatives for client Toyota Motor Sales….Rob Kaplan has joined agency production company Driver, New York, as in-house music producer….Mark Barasch has re-opened SoundImage NY, which was formerly known as SoundImage at Photomag. The new shop launches in the former space of Liebert Audio Post, with that company’s owner, Bob Liebert, joining SoundImage as mixer/ sound designer. Other staffers include mixers P. Dennis Mitchell and Chris Sherwin….Fred Koenekamp, ASC, will receive the ASC Lifetime Achievement Award next February at the 2005 ASC Awards. Koenekamp’s credits include The Towering Inferno, for which he earned an Academy Award…. Hollywood-headquartered Deluxe Laboratories has gone from minority to sole owner of digital film lab EFILM, Hollywood. Deluxe, which had a 20 percent stake in EFILM, bought the 80 percent balance from Panavision, Woodland Hills….Avid Technology (NASDAQ: AVID), Tewksbury, Mass., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Midiman, doing business as M-Audio—a leading provider of digital audio and MIDI solutions for electronic musicians and audio professionals—in a deal valued at roughly $80 million. Under terms of the agreement, M-Audio will become a business unit of Avid’s Digidesign….
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