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….
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years. Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation. EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.” Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.” 34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More