Feature filmmaker William Maher, whose movie Sleepwalkers starring Charlize Theron and Dennis Hopper premiered at Sundance and is slated for release next month, has come aboard the spot directorial roster of Sleeping Tree Films, a New York-based production house headed by owner/director Peter Odiorne. Additionally Rob Markopoulos, with a longstanding track record as a director and DP in the sports world, has joined Sleeping Tree. He comes over from NFL Films….Tom Van Daele has joined TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles, as a creative director. He had been with Duval Guillaume New York where he helped to build the trans-Atlantic hub of that noted Belgium ad agency….Scott Boyajan, formerly of a52, Santa Monica, has joined Luma Pictures, Venice, Calif., as executive producer of commercial VFX…..Editor Steve Prestemon, formerly of bicoastal Cosmo Street, has joined The Whitehouse, Santa Monica, and will be available through all that company’s shops, which also include New York, Chicago and London….Editor Robin Burchill has joined Fluid, New York. She comes over from Chemistri, New York, where she edited spots for such clients as Old Spice, Lean Cuisine, Verizon and Aamco….New York-based directorial collective HUSH–led by cofounders/directors Erik Karasyk and David Schwarz–has added designer, illustrator, and artist Laura Alejo to its roster. Fresh from Barcelona, Alejo has extensive experience in commercial and broadcast design and has won numerous international awards as an individual as well as with her previous collective, Studio Copyright in Barcelona….Veteran mixer/sound designer John Wilkinson has joined music/sound design/mix house Headroom Digital Audio, New York….
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 and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, 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