Director Paul Gay is joining bicoastal/international Hungry Man for worldwide representation. He was previously with now defunct Omaha Pictures in the U.S., and Paul Weiland Film Company, London, in the U.K…..Clear, a privately held, London-based commercial and feature visual effects house, will not be launching a 4k/color grading unit and hiring Mick Vincent this month, as originally planned. Clear managing director Greg Caplan told SHOOT that funding for the new unit was cancelled, so as a result the company would not be going forward with expansion. Instead, Clear will continue to focus on its primary business of spot and feature effects, which remains steady; recent work has included effects shots for Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven and for such commercials as Ford’s “Penguins” for Ogilvy & Mather, London. Also in response to the turn of events, Caplan said that Clear has downsized from 49 to 35 employees while keeping focus on its core business….Director/cameraman Gillean Proctor has signed with Crossroads Films, bicoastal and Chicago. Crossroads initially got turned on to Proctor through its affiliation with Avion Films, Toronto…..Matt and David Cooper–owners of Lightning Media, The Vault, The Post Group and co-owners of iO Film–have purchased Hollywood-based Novastar Digital Sound. The goal is to provide a “creative campus” for the film and television communities with services including DI finishing, color correction, telecine, editing, visual effects, audio, conversions, duplication, DVD replication, and Internet design and development…. Rainmaker Limited Partnership in Vancouver, B.C. has launched a division called Rainmaker Animation & Visual Effects. Warren Franklin will head the new division as president. Franklin started his career at San Rafael-based Industrial Light & Magic in ’79 and moved up to manage Lucasfilm divisions including ILM, LucasArts Games and Skywalker Sound. In 1992 he made a move to now-defunct Colossal Pictures; Franklin held subsequent positions at Cinesite Hollywood (now managed by Kodak-owned Laser Pacific) and Pinnacle Studios…..
Mindy Kaling and Kate Hudson Take On Pro Basketball In Netflix Series “Running Point”
In Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series, "Running Point, " Kate Hudson stars as Isla Gordon, the new president of the Los Angeles Waves, a pro basketball team that's been run by her family for years. Hudson's character has to prove herself as a woman in a man's world not only to her passed-over brothers, but also to players whose egos need checking and other executives who don't take her seriously.
If Isla's story rings a bell, take a look at the list of executive producers on the 10-episode season dropping Thursday: Among them is Jeanie Buss, the president of the Los Angeles Lakers, who was embroiled in similar turmoil over control of the storied NBA franchise after the death of her father, Jerry Buss.
Buss not only has given the show her blessing, it was her idea said Kaling. Buss was a big fan of "The Office" and approached Kaling with the premise about five years ago. Kaling ended up as the co-creator, writer and executive producer alongside Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen.
"She's in a very serious, stressful job but she loves comedy. She does not take herself seriously," Kaling says of Buss. "That's really rare when someone has that much power and that much to lose."
Jeanie Buss' blessing
In fact, Kaling said, Buss wanted the show to be funny and had "no ego" about using her real life as inspiration.
"She's had some extremely interesting things happen to her as the president of the Lakers. Some of it is she literally dated the coach for many years and she's like, 'Do whatever you want,'" Kaling says, referring to Buss' former relationship with Phil Jackson. "To get that kind of carte blanche, I'd never heard that from someone who is so famous and, you know, pretty private."
Shortly after the news... Read More