Ambience Entertainment, Crows Nest, Australia, has opened up a New York office in conjunction with Jeff Devlin’s New York company, Media Logic. Devlin will serve as Ambience’s U.S. executive producer. Ambience is a commercial production and animation company headed by managing director Matthew Street…. Director Jim Sonzero, formerly of bicoastal RSA USA, has joined the newly named Boondoggle, which was previously known as FM Rocks Commercials, the spot division of the ongoing mainstay music video house FM Rocks, Santa Monica. Boondoggle handles exclusive U.S. spot representation for Sonzero….Director Robert Leacock has joined Maysles Shorts, New York….Director Jon Chu, a USC film grad who landed the plum assignment of helming Columbia Pictures’ upcoming remake of Bye Bye Birdie, has joined Hollywood-based JGF for spot representation. Chu garnered the attention of Columbia and JGF via his short film, When the Kids Are Away….Director Marcus McCollum and executive producer Peter Abraham have joined Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago. They come over from now defunct Fusion Films….Cibolo Films, San Antonio, has signed director Gustavo Fiorenza for the U.S. Hispanic market….
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