Millennium Pictures, Santa Monica, has signed director Marshall Vernet for exclusive U.S. spot representation…..Paris-headquartered Thomson–whose Grass Valley unit makes the Spirit–announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire 33 1/3 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of Canopus Co., Ltd, a Japan-based developer of HD desktop video editing software, through a private transaction with Canopus chairman/CEO Hiroshi Yamada, and members of his immediate family. Thomson also disclosed that it will launch a public tender offer for the remaining Canopus shares in order to fully acquire the company….Director Mark Walton has joined Mindfield Pictures, Detroit, for Midwest representation. His credits include spots for such clients as Daimler Chrysler, The Salvation Army, BC Tel and Kraft. Walton’s roots are on the agency side of the business. He worked for J. Walter Thompson and McCann Erickson, both in London, and later served as creative director at Canadian ad shops Leo Burnett and MacLaren:Lintas…..If you are a member of the commercialmaking community who has a film that will be screened during the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and would like the project to be considered for coverage in SHOOT‘s Sundance roundup, send a screener to senior editor/creative and production Kristin Wilcha c/o SHOOT, 21 Charles St., Suite 203, Westport, CT 06880. You can also email info to kwilcha@shootonline.com….
Judge Upholds Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Charge Against Alec Baldwin In “Rust” Shooting
A New Mexico judge has upheld her decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
In a ruling Thursday, state District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer stood by her July decision to dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against Baldwin. She said prosecutors did not raise any factual or legal arguments that would justify reversing her decision.
"Because the state's amended motion raises arguments previously made, and arguments that the state elected not to raise earlier, the court does not find the amended motion well taken," the judge wrote, adding that the request was also untimely.
A spokesperson for Baldwin's lawyers said Friday that they had no immediate reaction to teh decision.
The case was thrown out halfway through trial on allegations that police and prosecutors withheld evidence from the defense in the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
Baldwin's trial was upended by revelations that ammunition was brought into the Santa Fe County sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammo unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers say investigators "buried" the evidence in a separate case file and filed a successful motion to dismiss.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey can now decide whether to appeal to a higher court.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for "Rust," was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal on a movie set outside Santa Fe in October 2021 when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer —... Read More