As SHOOT went to press, Silicon Graphics (OTC: SGID) announced that it has reached an agreement with all of its Senior Secured bank lenders and with holders of a significant amount of its Senior Secured debt on the terms of a reorganization plan intended to reduce its debt by approximately $250 million. As part of this agreement with many of its major stakeholders, and as the next step in its previously announced plan to reorganize its businesses, the company and its U.S. subsidiaries have filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. SGI's non-U.S. subsidiaries, including European, Canadian, Mexican, South American and Asia Pacific subsidiaries, were not included in the filing; they will continue their business operations without supervision from the U.S. courts, and will not be subject to the requirements of Chapter 11. SGI reported that it expects to file its Plan of Reorganization reflecting the agreement shortly, and to emerge from Chapter 11 within six months. “We want to assure our customers, our employees and our communities that SGI is operating-business as usual,” Dennis P. McKenna, the recently appointed, chairman and CEO of SGI, stated. “Our customers can continue to rely on SGI for its mission-critical products, services, and support.”….The directing team of Spooner/French has split up. Nick Spooner remains at bicoastal The Artists Company. His first solo shoot is for Volkswagen out of Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami….Carole Schumacher announced that she has sold Chicago-based Schumacher Camera to long-time staffers James Pope and Mike Acuña. Pope and Acuña have been running the day-to-day operations for the past few years, and have been with the company for a combined 22 years. As partners, Pope will handle the business side of the company, working with DPs and producers, while Acuña will continue to head up the technical side. Carole Schumacher has agreed to continue as creative director, overseeing ad campaigns and branding. The principals said that customers will notice few if any changes in what should be a seamless transition … Honey Trap, the short film from director Bob Giraldi, was a Gold Remi Award Winner for Creative Excellence at the recent 39th Annual WorldFest-Houston. The film is the first project Giraldi has written and directed through 149WOOSTER, a New York-based production company he co-founded in 2005 with Patti Greaney and Carol Case….
“Atropia” and “Twinless” Win Marquee Prizes At Sundance Film Festival
The war satire “Atropia,” about actors in a military role-playing facility, won the grand jury prize in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. dramatic competition, while the Dylan O’Brien movie “Twinless” got the coveted audience award.
Juries and programmers for the 41st edition of the independent film festival announced the major prizewinners Friday in Park City, Utah.
Other grand jury winners included the documentaries “Seeds,” about farmers in rural Georgia and “Cutting Through the Rocks,” about the first elected councilwoman in an Iranian village. The Indian drama “Sabar Bonda (Cactus Pears),” about a city dweller mourning his father in the western Indian countryside, won the top prize in the world cinema competition.
“It’s for my dad,” said writer and director Rohan Parashuram Kanawade. His late father, he said, was the one who encouraged him to pursue filmmaking.
Audiences also get to vote on their own awards, where James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” about the bromance between two men who meet in a twin bereavement support group, triumphed in the U.S. dramatic category. O’Brien also won a special jury award for his acting.
The U.S. documentary audience award went to “André is an Idiot,” a life-affirming film about dying of colon cancer. Other audience picks were “Prime Minister,” about former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, and “DJ Ahmet,” a coming-of-age film about a 15-year-old boy in North Macedonia.
Mstyslav Chernov, the Oscar-winning Associated Press journalist, won the world cinema documentary directing award for his latest dispatch from Ukraine, “2000 Meters to Andriivka,” a joint production between the AP and PBS Frontline.
“Here’s to all... Read More