California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has a chance to put his mark on state filming issues, including runaway production, by appointing a new director of the California Film Commission (CFC) now that Karen Constine has stepped down from that post. At press time, there was no exact timetable for the naming of a successor. Currently serving as CFC director on an interim basis is Jorge Jackson of the state’s Trade and Commerce Agency…. BeachHouse Films, Santa Monica, has signed director Allen Martinez, who has just wrapped his first job there: a four-spot package for H-E-B via Rives Carlberg, Houston….Tate USA, Santa Monica, has signed director Federico Brugia for exclusive U.S. spot representation. The deal also marks the start of a reciprocal partnership between Tate USA and The Family, Milan, Italy, which handles Italian directorial talent like Brugia and Luca Merli….Aussie director Ryan Renshaw has joined Rhythm+ Hues Commercials, Los Angeles, for exclusive U.S. spot representation….Director Beth Galton has joined ARF & Co., Hoboken, N.J….Paris-headquartered Thomson has entered into an agreement to acquire the video division of ParkerVision, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based publicly traded manufacturer of live TV production automation systems. Thomson intends to integrate the ParkerVision products in its Grass Valley brand business. The transaction is valued at approximately $14 million in cash and is expected to close during the first half of 2004….Mental images, the Berlin-headquartered developer of Mental Ray rendering software, and Cycore, an Uppsala, Sweden-based graphics software company, have reached an agreement whereby mental images will acquire Cult3D, Cycore’s interactive 3-D software platform for e-business, and all related 3-D technology from Cycore. The plan is to drive widespread adoption and deployment of 3-D technology for the Internet….Steven B. Cohen has been named VP of feature film services at Santa Monica-headquartered Ascent Media…. The Association of Independent Creative Editors (AICE) is mailing reels of all submissions for its AICE Awards to its roughly 650 AICE member editors this week. Editors must submit their votes for the finalists before the end of the month. A blue-ribbon panel of judges will select the winners, which will be announced at the third AICE Show, May 13 at Soldier Field in Chicago….
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More