Jen Stocksmith has been named creative director at Tribal DDB New York where she will be working on Pfizer Consumer Healthcare. Prior to joining Tribal DDB, Stocksmith provided creative leadership at mcgarrybowen for clients including Sharp Electronics and JPMorgan Chase. She began her ad career in Minnesota, spending time at several Minneapolis shops–such as Fallon and Campbell Mithun–before moving to the NYC….Belgium-based directing duo Norman Bates has joined Stink London….Director Richard Sears has joined Synthetic Pictures for exclusive North American representation. His filmography spans more than 100 commercials, a number of branded content campaigns and shorts. He has already wrapped a job via Synthetic for The Ramey Agency. His other spot credits over the years include such clients as Toyota Prius, University of Phoenix, Nissan, AT&T, Burger King, Sprint and Ole Miss. Sears' short film An Evil Town caught the eyes of creatives from Wieden+Kennedy, helping him to land a Nike assignment which broke him into the ad arena. He has a feature project, Bottom of the World, set to shoot this year….Anthony Roman has joined music production company Black Iris as music supervisor. He will head up the shop's just launched music supervision arm in Brooklyn, NY. Black Iris maintains studios in L.A., Brooklyn and in Richmond, Va. Founder of NYC band Radio 4, Roman has 20 years of music industry experience as performer, composer, producer and music supervisor. He has scored and music supervised film, TV and commercial projects for clients such as Mitsubishi, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Nike, TriBeCa Films, FX, and Law and Order: SVU. Most recently he was music supervisor for Ira Glass' stage version of This American Life….
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