Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has launched a new Documentary Lab, sponsored by Latino Public Broadcasting, with 14 filmmakers and nine projects participating. Taking place in Los Angeles, the Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program, with a main focus of assisting documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and providing creative feedback. All of the Film Independent Labs are designed to support strong, original voices develop their filmmaking careers in a nurturing, yet challenging creative environment. The Documentary Lab mentors include filmmakers Laura Gabbert (No Impact Man), Scott Hamilton Kennedy (The Garden), Doug Pray (Art & Copy), AJ Schnack (Convention), Sundance Film Festival sr. programmer Caroline Libresco, and producers Heather Rae (Frozen River) and Eddie Schmidt (Troubadours). Guest speakers include filmmakers Jen Arnold (A Small Act), Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol), Chicken & Egg's Julie Benello, Paradigm Consulting's Peter Broderick, Donaldson & Callif LLP's Michael Donaldson, Latino Public Broadcasting's Luis Ortiz, and ITVS' Richard Saiz. The 2011 Documentary Lab filmmakers and their projects are: Roberto Gudiño, Above The Fold; Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhail-Worrall, Call Me Kuchu; Marah Strauch, Gravity; Julia Meltzer, The Light in Her Eyes; Laura Nix, Matter of If But When; Marie-Hélène Carleton and Micah Garen, The Road to Nasiriyah; José Asunción and Brian Davis, Sick Mick and the Boys; Christian Bruno and Natalija Vekic, STRAND; PJ Raval, Untitled Gay Retiree Documentary; and Nicole Karsin, We Women Warriors…..Veteran voice casting director Maria Pappalardo has joined the staff of New York-based audio house, Sonic Union. Pappalardo will be screening talent for television, film, web and radio out of Sonic Union's newly built recording space and lounge. Pappalardo, who has been operating independently out of Sonic Union's studio for the past year, previously served as BBDO New York's head of voiceover casting for 15 years. At BBDO and as an independent, she has cast thousands of large-scale campaigns for the likes of Visa, GE, Pepsi, Gillette, Chase Bank, and Canada Dry….
Director Cassandra Brooksbank Joins Monument Content For Spots and Branded Content
Monument Content has signed director Cassandra “Cassie” Brooksbank for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She brings to her directing and storytelling the experience and skills of a writer, conceptual artist, editor and visual effects artist.
Her body of work as a director includes Pepsi’s “Selfie” featuring Lionel Messi amid a flurry of fans, Barclays madcap women’s Soccer League spot where she collaborated closely with the agency to develop the creative, ultimately winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sports Industry Awards, and a grass-roots campaign for Fellow Coffee. The latter just didn’t brew buzz; it helped raise $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Prior to joining Monument Content, Brooksbank had been repped in the U.S. for commercials by production house Hey Wonderful.
On the long-form front, she is repped by CAA for film and television. And on the horizon is her debut feature, My Masterpiece, produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and backed by Amazon.
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