At press time, SHOOT got word that director Larry Williams had died. He had apparently collapsed while walking his dog near the family’s Pasadena home on Monday evening (5/31). Williams and his wife, Leslie Libman, co-directed commercials through bicoastal Coppos Films….Two antirunaway production bills offering tax incentives to producers who film in California have cleared another hurdle in the State Assembly. At press time, both proposed measures were passed out of the California Assembly’s Appropriations Committee. Earlier the legislation gained a go-ahead from the Assembly’s Tax & Revenue Committee. Stay tuned….Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials, Hollywood, has signed director Walter Santucci who’s perhaps best known in the independent animation community for his "Evil Cat" cartoons which have appeared in Spike and Mike’s Sick and Twisted Festival, as well as Manga Entertainment’s General Chaos animation tour…..Executive producer Matt Grayson has exited Mad River Post/Santa Monica…. Burbank-headquartered, publicly traded Four Media Co. (4MC) has bought London-based postproduction facility TVI Limited from Carlton Communications Plc for $10.1 million in cash. The acquisition expands 4MC’s international reach. TVI’s capabilities include editing, film transfer, sound editing and mixing, and DVD and CD-ROM authoring. 4MC is parent to such shops as Riot and POP, Santa Monica, and Encore Hollywood….Morty’s Digitorial, New York, has been relaunched under the name Slingshot Edit and Post. The company partners are president/editor Morty Ashkinos, VP/editor Bruce Ashkinos and executive producer Steve Ashkinos. The creative staff is rounded out by editors Jim Rubino and Jeffrey Bair; along with online/effects editor Kim Flood….
