Zoo Film, Hollywood, has signed director Lesli Linka Glatter for spot representation. She is best known for directing episodes of such TV series as Madmen, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, ER, House...
Zoo Film, Hollywood, has signed director Lesli Linka Glatter for spot representation. She is best known for directing episodes of such TV series as Madmen, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, ER, House, West Wing, NYPD Blue, Numb3rs, The Closer and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks for which she earned a DGA Award nomination. In features, she directed The Proposition, starring Kenneth Branagh and William Hurt, and several HBO films–State of Emergency, Into the Homeland and The Promise….Elaine Strom Behnken has been promoted to executive producer at Santa Monica-based commercial production companies GARTNER, tight, and Outsider USA. While maintaining distinct directorial rosters, the three houses operate under the aegis of partners/executive producers Don Block and Rich Carter. Behnken previously served as head of production for the companies…Jennifer Patterson has been named executive producer of Irvine, Calif.-based editorial house Shelter. Her background includes producing for such Santa Monica editorial companies as Beast, Crush and Cake….
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More