Bicoastal commercial/music video house HSI Productions has teamed with video game creative shop Immaterial, Los Angeles, to form medium, a Culver City, Calif.-headquartered venture specializing in the development of interactive entertainment. The key players in medium include creative director Marco Brambilla, who’s also experienced as a director in features and spots, writer/ art director Robert Auten, and HSI exec producers Kerstin Emhoff and Rebecca Skinner. Medium will focus on several areas, including: conceiving, developing and producing video game concepts that carry specific relevance to a product or brand; brand placement within traditional video game properties; and developing and implementing music-related initiatives that will provide new revenue streams and marketing opportunities for record labels and recording artists while adding to the reality of the gaming experience….Bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures has added two directors: noted documentary filmmaker Kevin MacDonald (Touching The Void; One Day in September) has signed with the company for U.S. commercial representation; and commercial/ music video director Charles Mehling has come aboard as well….Director Jared Hess has signed with bicoastal Moxie Pictures for exclusive commercial representation. Hess’ first feature film, Napoleon Dynamite, a comedy co-written with his wife, screened this year at Sundance. FOX Searchlight Pictures recently purchased Napoleon Dynamite for full theatrical distribution, and the film will be released later this year….Universal Studios Florida Production Group’s twentytwoA (22A) will handle spot representation for director Lee Tamahori, whose feature credits include Die Another Day, Along Came A Spider and The Edge…. BlueYed Pictures, with offices in Los Angeles, London and Tokyo, has secured director Gavin Bowden for European spot representation. He continues to be repped in the U.S. for commercials and music videos by Los Angeles-headquartered A Band Apart…. Speaking of A Band Apart, director Leonardo Ricagni recently wrapped his latest film, Indocumentados, and is once again available for spotwork through the production company…. Dr. Helmut Panke, chairman of the board of management of BMW AG will be the recipient of the Advertiser of the Year Award at the 2004 Cannes International Advertising Festival…. Honda’s "Cog" has won the Best of Show honor at the ninth International Automotive Advertising Awards (IAAA). Directed by Antoine Bardou-Jacquet of Partizan Midi Minuit, Paris, for Wieden+Kennedy, London, "Cog" also was the lone commercial to earn IAA Gold in the TV portion of the competition. A full report on the IAAA TV winners will be in next week’s SHOOT…..
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