Bicoastal Chelsea Pictures and New York-headquartered affiliate Campfire will separate, splitting up common ownership and management. The move enables each shop to focus more on individual strategies, a need which became necessary as a result of the growth experienced by the two entities. Chelsea Pictures, founded in 1987 by Steve Wax, will be owned and managed by longtime company partners Allison Amon and Lisa Mehling. Founded in ’04, Campfire will be owned and operated by Wax together with Blair Witch directors Mike Monello and Greg Hale. “As both Chelsea Pictures and Campfire continue to evolve so rapidly, it became increasingly clear that a separation was necessary to allow each business to continue to flourish,” stated Amon. The move comes, said Wax, as both groups are “at their creative heights.” Chelsea is a mainstay commercial production house with longform involvement. Campfire is known for its new media fare, including Sega’s Beta-7 project and Audi’s “The Art of the Heist” campaign/multimedia event…..Commercial and music video production house FM Rocks, based in Santa Monica, has launched a U.S. Hispanic spot division and hired JC Velasquez to head the new venture. Valasquez will provide Latin spot representation for the company’s directorial roster as well as develop Latin directors in the general market. Velasquez has 10-plus years of experience managing productions in the U.S. and internationally, spanning commercials (McDonalds, Verizon, Ford, Pepsi, Frito Lay, Toyota, Coors Light), music videos, TV promos, live events and programs…..Director Chris Hartwill has joined Nola Pictures, New York. His past roosts have included RSA and Crossroads……Look Effects, Hollywood, has opened a graphic design division, the Captain, headed by designer/director Mason Nicoll, exec producer Ellen Stafford and business development director Eric Todd Smith….
“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