Tate USA, Santa Monica, has signed directors Ted Pauly, Phil Brown and James Dodson for exclusive U.S. spot representation. Pauly retains his senior producer’s post at MTV while becoming available to direct commercial assignments via Tate USA. The Toronto-based Brown has successfully transitioned to director after first establishing himself as an agency creative. Dodson is a former VP production at 20th Century Fox and is slated to helm two feature films…. Bicoastal/international Believe Media has entered into an alliance with Alexandra, Va.-based agency Brand New World to create and produce long-form, brand-focused content for advertisers spanning such platforms as broadband, VOD, wireless and in-store retail networks…..Director Jon Gwyther has joined BeachHouse Films, Santa Monica, for U.S. representation. The international helmer recently wrapped a Shell Oil job for J. Walter Thompson, London, that was shot in Thailand with Plaza Films, which reps him in Australia….Director Mark Hamill–best know for playing the part of Luke Skywalker in the original Star Wars trilogy–is now available for helming and creative development assignments via Treehouse Animation, New York…..
Review: Director Alex Parkinson’s “Last Breath” Starring Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu
A routine deep sea diving mission in the North Sea goes terribly wrong when a young diver is stranded some 300 feet below the surface in the new film "Last Breath." His umbilical cable has severed. The support vessel above is aimlessly drifting away from the site through violent, stormy waters. And the diver has only ten minutes of oxygen in his backup tank.
As if that wasn't enough, it's also a true story.
If merely reading this is giving you heart palpitations already, you can only imagine the white-knuckle experience of watching this all play out on the big screen. It's 40ish minutes of pure suspense and anxiety as the story shuffles between the man at the bottom of the ocean, Chris Lemons (Finn Cole), his fellow saturation divers (Woody Harrelson as Duncan and Simu Liu as Dave) in the diving bell below the waters who are unable to help and the crew in the support vessel above (including Cliff Cutris and Mark Bonnar) scrambling to get their systems back online and operational as the clock rapidly runs out. Ten minutes has never felt so short โ and then it just gets worse as the clock starts counting up, showing Chris's time without oxygen.
At one point, Liu's character Dave, a no-nonsense, all-business diver says matter-of-factly at that it's a body recovery, not a rescue. Deep sea saturation diving is a dangerous business, described at the start of the film as the most dangerous job on earth. Chris tells his fiancรฉ, in a short introduction, that it's no more dangerous than going to space. She replies that it's funny that he thinks that is comforting.
The real incident happened in September 2012 โ Dave, Duncan and Chris were just one team of divers sent to the ocean floor off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, to repair oil... Read More