Paranoid U.S. has entered into a partnership with Thomas Thomas Films, London, whereby several Paranoid directors–starting with Francois Vogel, Sophie Gateau and Nicole McDonald–will pick up representation in the U.K. Plans call for Paranoid to be integrally involved in any U.K. jobs that materializes out of this relationship. Meanwhile Paranoid continues to maintain its office in France as well as its partnership with Germany with Big Fish….Brent Holt has been named executive producer of Riot, New York. Most recently working as a freelance producer in Los Angeles, Holt returns to New York, where he previously served as executive producer of Manic, as well as Brand New School. In addition to his years in the Manhattan marketplace, Holt spent a year as executive producer at Little Bull Films in Torino, Italy…..Editor Chris Ophoven has joined Collective Seattle, the shop launched in July 2007 by editor Kelly Vander Linder and exec producer Molly Woodruff. Ophoven had most recently been freelancing as an assistant and editor for Seattle agencies and for Collective. Prior to that he was assistant editor to Vander Linder at Slice Editorial, Seattle….Pulse Music, New York, has added music producer/writer Josh Peck, formerly of The Lodge….
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