As reported in last week’s >e.dition, the rush was on for high-tech companies–including visual effects and CG studios–to apply for H-1B visas covering the next fiscal year, Oct. 1, 2007-Sept. 30, ’08. Many U.S. firms contend that, due to a shortage of qualified homegrown talent, they need the visas to access skilled foreign artisans. At press time, word was that in the first day that the application process opened, U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services received more than 150,000 H-1B petitions for 65,000 available visas. The tally from the second day isn’t yet known….Director Jim Jenkins and his executive producer Ralph Laucella have teamed to form [o posi+ive] Films in New York. The launch marks the end of the director’s successful tenure at bicoastal/international Hungry Man where his last job was a three-spot Geek Squad campaign for Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami. At press time, Jenkins was already set to embark on a couple of projects for Droga5, New York. Among Jenkins’ accomplishments at Hungry Man was being nominated for the Director Guild of America Award as best commercial director of 2004…..Effective July 1, Gary Shenk, president of Seattle-based Corbis, will assume the role of CEO, succeeding Steve Davis who is transitioning out of day-to-day responsibilities to pursue new opportunities in public service and philanthropy…French editor Evelyne Ranaivoarivony-Ogou, a.k.a. “Nini,” has come aboard New York house wild(child) for exclusive U.S. representation. Her credits include campaigns for Nissan, Lancome, Dior, Evian and Bailey’s Irish Creme, among others…..
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More