Suzanne Molinaro has joined Deutsch New York as senior VP, director of digital production. She will oversee production of digital projects across all accounts, including Microsoft, PNC Bank and Unilever, working with Joe Calabrese, executive VP, director of integrated production. Molinaro had most recently been with JWT NY as director of digital production. Meanwhile Stephanie Lee-Pang will take on the title of sr. VP, director of digital operations at Deutsch NY. Lee-Pang, most recently director of interactive production, has been with Deutsch since 2004….NY studio Hornet has signed director Mikey Please for representation in the U.S., Canada and South America. Passion Pictures will rep Please in Europe. The director’s short film The Eagleman Stag, premiered at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, won a BAFTA Award, and made an extensive run on the festival circuit, gaining exposure at SXSW as well as AFI and fests in Seattle, L.A. and Chicago. On the branded front, Please has a stop motion film for Nike slated to debut this month. And he is developing a short film titled Martyn Myller, which will be produced by Hornet…L.A.-based Mirror Films has signed the Goetz Brothers, a directorial team consisting of Kevin and Michael Goetz. The duo’s work spans spots, music videos, and a recently wrapped feature film debut, Scenic Route….L.A.-based Bueno Films has signed director Jeffrey DeChausse whose credits include commercial and documentary projects for such clients as Apple, Visa, Lexus and Toyota. He recently wrapped a documentary, American Auto….Morten Tyldum–director of Headhunters, a Norwegian film–has joined Santa Monica-based Bully Pictures for ad representation in the U.S….
Actor Gene Hackman, Wife Betsy Arakawa and Their Dog Were Dead For Some Time, Warrant Shows
Oscar-winner Gene Hackman, his wife and one of their dogs were apparently dead for some time before a maintenance worker discovered their bodies at the couple's Santa Fe home, according to investigators. Hackman, 95, was found dead Wednesday in a mudroom and his 65-year-old wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found in a bathroom next to a space heater, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detectives wrote in a search warrant. There was an open prescription bottle and pills scattered on a countertop near Arakawa. Denise Avila, a sheriff's office spokesperson, said there was no indication they had been shot or had any wounds. The New Mexico Gas Co. tested the gas lines in and around the home after the bodies were discovered, according to the warrant. At the time, it didn't find any signs of problems and the Fire Department found no signs of a carbon monoxide leak or poisoning. A sheriff's detective wrote that there were no obvious signs of a gas leak, but he noted that people exposed to gas leaks or carbon monoxide might not show signs of poisoning. The gruff-but-beloved Hackman was among the best actors of his generation, appearing as villains, heroes and antiheroes in dozens of dramas, comedies and action films from the 1960s until his retirement in the early 2000s. "He was loved and admired by millions around the world for his brilliant acting career, but to us he was always just Dad and Grandpa. We will miss him sorely and are devastated by the loss," his daughters and granddaughter said in a statement Thursday. Worker found bodies of Hackman and his wife A maintenance worker reported that the home's front door was open when he arrived to do routine work on Wednesday, and he called police after finding the bodies, investigators said. He and... Read More