Director John Grammatico has joined Los Angeles-based CoMPANY Films. He comes to the directing chair after leaving his creative director position at Doner, where he worked for such clients as Cox Communications, Del Taco and HGTV. At press time, Grammatico was helming his first project at CoMPANY: a two-spot package for M&M's out of BBDO New York….Cathleen Kisich has joined Caviar Los Angeles as a producer. She comes over from Goodby, Silverstein and Partners, San Francisco, where she served as a producer, turning out work for clients such as Sprint, Hewlett-Packard, Nintendo, Netflix and Comcast. Born and raised in San Francisco, Cathleen started her career at Citron Haligman Bedecarré/AKQA. From there she worked at GARTNER in Santa Monica, then back up to San Francisco to work at Publicis & Hal Riney. At Riney, she was an integrated producer before landing at Goodby, Silverstein and Partners in June 2007….British editor Adam Rudd moves stateside this month to join Final Cut LA. He has spent the last four years editing out of Final Cut's London headquarters. Recent award wins for projects he worked on include the Silver Cannes Lion for the British Heart Foundation, and 14 Promax/BDA Awards for SyFy, both for Director Brett Foraker. Other notable 2010 work includes the 3D Gucci “Guilty” campaign, the UK launch of “The Event,” and Audi's “Future”…
A “Wicked” Welcome From The National Board of Review
Days after "Wicked" went home from the Golden Globes with a single award for box office achievement, the National Board of Review Awards held space for the smash hit musical, celebrating its cast and director in the New York group's annual gala Tuesday. The untelevised but starry NBR Awards were a chance for many of the nominees who didn't win Sunday to trot out their would-be acceptance speeches, including Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman. Accepting the award for best actress for her performance in the erotic thriller "Babygirl," Kidman celebrated by chugging a glass of milk, a nod to some of the film's kinky sex games. After finishing, Kidman triumphantly announced "Good girl!" and left the stage. It also was an opportunity for some jabs at the Globes. "Isn't this room just a little bit classier than the Beverly Hilton?" quipped presenter Christine Baranski, looking around the elegant marble-columned midtown venue, Cipriani's. Others were less impressed by the old-school New York vibe. "The bathroom attendant, that shouldn't exist anymore," Kieran Culkin said during a typically free-form acceptance speech for best supporting actor for his role in "A Real Pain." The night belonged to Jon M. Chu's "Wicked." The musical was the board's pick for best film, best director for Chu and a special award for the creative collaboration of Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande. The two, in back-and-forth remarks, continued their mutual praise of each other. "Also you're welcome," added Grande. "I truly think you would have murdered anyone else." "Probably true," responded Erivo. Chu, who was introduced by Lin-Manuel Miranda, used the moment to reflect on his yearslong journey with "Wicked," which will be followed by an already-shot part two due out this... Read More