Ian Spalter has returned to New York-headquartered digital agency R/GA, this time as creative director in the mobile and emerging platforms group. He will work across accounts and lead projects focused on social media and digital product design to heighten brand experiences and create long-term value for consumers. Spalter was most recently VP of production management and user-experience design at Community Connect, a social-networking company that created ethnic community sites BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, and AsianAve.com. Prior to Community Connect, he was an associate creative director at R/GA….Olivier Gauriat has joined Madison Park Pictures, New York, as executive producer for commercials and new media content. He formerly headed production for Colgate Palmolive worldwide and earlier served as production head at Young & Rubicam, New York. Madison Park, which also has an office in L.A., is a commercial and feature film company founded by Stephen Ashkinos, Matthew Fiorello and Carsten Lorenz. Ashkinos is also the owner of New York-based Chemistry, an editorial house, and Pure, a visual effects company….Shane Diver, formerly of GSDM’s Idea City in Austin, has joined TM Advertising, Dallas, as creative director. He will handle the development of TM’s integrated interactive efforts while also working as co-creative director with Todd Connelly to help manage digital resources and projects.
Gene Hackman and His Wife Are Found Dead In Their Santa Fe Home; Oscar-Winning Actor Was 95
Gene Hackman, the prolific Oscar-winning actor whose studied portraits ranged from reluctant heroes to conniving villains made him one of the industry's most respected and honored performers, has been found dead along with his wife, classical pianist Betsy Arakawa, at their home in Santa Fe, N.M.
Foul play was not suspected, but authorities did not release circumstances of their deaths and said an investigation was ongoing.
Hackman, 95, Arakawa, 63, and their dog were all dead when deputies entered their home to check on their welfare around 1:45 p.m. Wednesday (2/26), Santa Fe County Sheriffโs Office spokesperson Denise Avila said.
Hackman was a frequent and versatile presence on screen from the 1960s until his retirement. His dozens of films included the Academy Award favorites "The French Connection" and "Unforgiven," a breakout performance in "Bonnie and Clyde," a classic bit of farce in "Young Frankenstein," a turn as the comic book villain Lex Luthor in "Superman" and the title character in Wes Anderson's 2001 "The Royal Tenenbaums."
He seemed capable of any kind of role โ whether an uptight buffoon in "Birdcage," a college coach finding redemption in the sentimental favorite "Hoosiers" or a secretive surveillance expert in Francis Ford Coppola's Watergate-era release "The Conversation."
"Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity," Coppola said on Instagram. "I mourn his loss, and celebrate his existence and contribution."
Although self-effacing and unfashionable, Hackman held special status within Hollywood โ heir to Spencer Tracy as an everyman, actor's actor, curmudgeon and reluctant celebrity. He embodied the ethos of doing his job, doing it very well, and letting... Read More