Director Michael Patterson, formerly with Hollywood-based Visitor, has joined Green Dot Films, Santa Monica….Director Tim Hamilton has signed with bicoastal Go Film….Bicoastal Celsius Films has added director Christian Charles….Director George Mays has joined Detour, a Santa Monica shop headed by executive producer Josh Canova….Los Angeles-based Form has signed director Anthony M. Bongiovi for high-profile music performances and events in hi-def for release on DVD. Form will also handle the director for spots and music videos….Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO/chief creative officer of The Kaplan Thaler Group, New York, and Gary Goldsmith, chairman/chief creative officer of Lowe, New York, will serve on the film jury at the 2004 Cannes International Advertising Festival….Greg Caplan, co-founder and managing director of Final Cut Ltd., has sold his stake in the business and resigned from the company—which has edit facilities in London and New York—to devote more time to its sister shop, London-based visual effects house Clear….Post Logic Studios has gone bicoastal. The longstanding Hollywood company has formally opened its New York facility, hiring colorist Allan Rogers, formerly of HBO. Post Logic is partnered in its New York venture with Outpost Digital, New York….Flame artist/designer Marlin Lask has come aboard Brandname, the New York visual effects boutique launched in September by Flame/Inferno artist Colin Stackpole….Noted feature film sound designer Lustmord (The Insider; Strange Days), has joined bicoastal Agent Jackson for commercial representation….Composers Jared DePasquale, Mark Thame and Ron Walters Jr., have joined The Rhythm Café, Chicago….John Garland, executive VP/director of broadcast and development at J. Walter Thompson (JWT), New York, has announced a new management structure for his department. Under the new setup, the production department at JWT will consist of four pods or individual production units, each headed by an executive producer. Three of the executive producers have been promoted from within: Darcey Cherubini, Terry Brogan, and Bill Finnegan. Joining the agency to round out the quartet of executive producers is Jill Rothman, who comes over from DDB New York; Rothman had previously worked at JWT, from ’85-’99….Ray Johnson has joined davidandgoliath, Los Angeles, as group creative director on the agency’s Kia Motors USA account. He comes over from Lowe, New York, where he was a senior VP/creative supervisor….
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