Commercial production company IDENTITY has signed director Jean Baptiste Leonetti for representation in North America and Europe. The signing comes after the completion of his first feature-length film, Carré Blanc which was featured at both the Toronto Film Festival and AFI Fest. Leonetti has been directing commercials in France for the past 10 years and is known for his performance-driven, documentary style. He has shot more than 60 commercials for brands that include Canon, PlayStation, Coca Cola, Renault, Peugeot, and France Telecom….Digital studio Reel FX, Dallas and Santa Monica, has added producer Sherry Wallace to its commercial team. Wallace comes from Reel FX's entertainment division, where she has worked as a production manager for the past three years. She now brings her 13 years of CG production experience in video games, theme park rides and feature films to the commercial division. In her new role, Wallace is already co-producing both a music video and four-spot CG/live-action hybrid campaign for The Richards Group's recent re-brand of Chuck E. Cheese….
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More