Luke Thornton and Liz Silver, co-founders of bicoastal The End, resigned from the company last week. Silver was president of The End and Thornton served as its executive producer. The End is a subsidiary of public company Harmony Holdings Inc., whose majority owner is the publicly traded, Minneapolis-headquartered iNTELEFILM (formerly known as Children’s Broadcasting Corp.)….Roberto Cecchini, president/executive producer of bicoastal/international The Artists Company, has been named chairman of the 2000 AICP Show and Lecture Series….Tate & Partners, Santa Monica, has opened an office in Berlin….Radar is the name of the new Chicago-based design/production company recently launched by partners Don Hoeg and John Truckenbrod….The industry mourns the passing of Jay Moloney, 35, due to an apparent suicide. Moloney had most recently served as president and then as consultant to New York-headquartered Paradise Music & Entertainment, a publicly traded company that is scheduled next month to finalize its acquisition of bicoastal commercial production house Straw Dogs….
Sheriff Reports Preliminary Autopsy Results On Gene Hackman and Betsy Arakawa
Preliminary autopsy results didn't determine how Oscar-winner Gene Hackman and his wife died at their home in Santa Fe, New Mexico, but did rule out that they were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning, the sheriff leading the investigation said Friday.
The condition of the bodies found Wednesday indicated the deaths occurred at least several days earlier and there was no sign of foul play.
At a news conference, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said the initial examination by the medical examiner showed no sign of carbon monoxide, a colorless and odorless gas produced from kitchen appliances and other fuel-burning items. When it collects in poorly ventilated homes, it can be fatal.
Mendoza also said an examination of the 95-year-old Hackman's pacemaker showed it stopped working on Feb. 17, which means he may have died nine days earlier.
Hackman's body was found in an entryway. The body of his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 65, was in a bathroom. She was on her side and a space heater was near her head. Investigators said the heater likely was pulled down when she fell. There also was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop.
Whether the pills or other drugs were a factor won't be known until toxicology tests are completed in the coming weeks.
Dr. Philip Keen, the retired chief medical examiner in Maricopa County, Arizona, said it would be unlikely for a person who tests negative for carbon monoxide initially to later be found to have been poisoned by it.
He also said the moment when a pacemaker stops working could mark the point when a person dies, but not always.
"If your heart required a pacemaker, there would certainly be an interruption at that point — and it might be the hallmark of when... Read More