The directing team of Amy Hill and Chris Riess, a.k.a. Riess/ Hill, has joined bicoastal GARTNER. Hill and Riess come over from bicoastal Anonymous Content, where they had been since summer 2002….Director Mike Bigelow has joined Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles.…Speaking of Biscuit, that company’s co-founder, director Noam Murro, is once again readily available for commercials, far sooner than expected, because he and DreamWorks agreed to part ways on The Ring 2, which was to have marked Murro’s feature directorial debut. Biscuit co-founder, executive producer Shawn Lacy Tessaro, said that the split was amicable and based on Murro and DreamWorks having different creative visions for the film….Director Elliott Lester has signed with X-Ray Productions, bicoastal and Chicago, for commercials, and Merge @ Crossroads, Los Angeles, for music videos….New York-based mvg, ltd (formerly the Multi Video Group) is adding a new business to its roster of editorial, postproduction, audio and visual effects companies: Paperdoll TV. The new subsidiary will serve advertising agencies by producing test commercials and broadcast promotions using Adobe After Effects and live action production. Executive producer Charlie DiComo will head the new venture; earlier, DiComo founded now defunct 11/11 Productions…. Creative director Jonas Baron Morganstein has launched Buster, a Los Angeles-based design firm specializing in animation for the advertising and broadcast industries. Baron Morganstein was formerly a partner in the directing team of Heavy International….Mark A. Olingy has been named president of Snell & Wilcox Inc., the U.S. operation of Hampshire, England-headquartered Snell & Wilcox Ltd. He comes over from WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C., where he was director of engineering & operations. Olingy succeeds Dick Crippa as head of the American operation; Crippa has been promoted to executive chairman of Snell & Wilcox, Inc….
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