Word is that director Bob Kerstetter and his longtime colleague, executive producer Stelio Kitrilakis, have come aboard bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures….Director Pete Henderson of Toronto-based Brown Entertainment has joined Free Market Films, New York, for U.S. representation. Headed by executive producer Beth Kinder and director Edouard Nammour, Free Market has a directorial roster that also consists of Clay Staub and Buenos Aires-based Martin Hodara….Composer/sound designer Andy Snavley, formerly of CB+Co., West Los Angeles, has launched Inglewood, Calif.-based music/sound design shop Bendy….Oxford, U.K.-headquartered Vicon Motion Systems, developer of optical motion capture systems, has acquired Los Angeles-based motion capture studio House of Moves (HOM). The acquisition formally establishes HOM as a new technology test-bed for Vicon….Flame artist Jan Cilliers has joined Click 3x, New York….Paul Hannaford has been promoted to head of visual effects at Rushes, London….The industry is mourning motion picture technology innovator Edmund M. DiGiulio, who passed away on June 4 after a long battle with congestive heart failure. He was 76. DiGiulio founded Cinema Products, where he developed numerous innovations, including the Steadicam, the motion picture camera stabilization system worn by camera operators—for which he, along with inventor Garrett Brown and Cinema Products’ engineering staff, won an Oscar in 1978. DiGiulio also received the Gordon E. Sawyer Lifetime Achievement Oscar in ’01, and was an Emmy Award winner as well….
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