Mark Hyatt and George Cawood are exec producers at the newly launched Culver City, Calif.-based production house Make+Model, which opens with a directorial roster that includes the Goetz Brothers who come over from Detour, Russell Bates, formerly of Crossroads, Marcos Zavitsanos from Alta Vista, and Jon Barber whose work recently won several Bessie Awards with OPC in Canada….Nola Pictures, New York, has signed director Nick Lewin whose credits include American Express, AT&T, BMW, British Telecom, Cadillac, Chevron, Diet Coke, Ford, Guinness, Heineken, Honda, Nissan, Visa, Volkswagen and Volvo. Lewin's prior roosts include Crossroads and London-based shop Lewin & Watson which he co-ran. The move to Nola reunites him with executive producer Charlie Curran whom he worked with at Crossroads and back when Curran was an agency producer….Optimus Santa Monica has brought Ashley Bartell aboard as a producer. Bartell, who will work closely with executive producer Therese Hunsberger, had served most recently as director of operations at RavensWork, a commercial audio mixing and recording house in Venice, Calif. She has worked with such clients as Kia Motors America (KMA) for David&Goliath; Nestlé Nesquik® and Northrop Grumman for McCann Erickson; Toyota for Saatchi & Saatchi; and Toys”R”Us for You&Me. Optimus is a leading postproduction and production house headquartered in Chicago with an editorial boutique in Santa Monica….Exec producer Roland Gauthier, VFX supervisor Michael Kuehn and animation director Alex Tysowsky have formally founded Hinge Digital, a Portland, Ore.-based animation and VFX studio….Noah Clark has joined Victors & Spoils office in Boulder, Colo., as creative director. He will lead creative efforts on all the agency's account. He previously worked at Crispin Porter+Bogusky, and prior to that at agency Ground Zero….Connor Swegle, formerly executive producer at Click 3X Entertainment, N.Y., has joined Hollywood-based multidisciplinary brand strategy and design agency Troika as exec producer. Swegle will work closely with creative directors Whit Friese and Gil Haslam on Troika's key entertainment brands, such as ESPN, Discovery Networks and EA Sports. While Swegle will focus largely on client services and project management, he will also play a key role in facilitating the agency's knowledge and expertise as a brand consultancy for strategic services and creative execution…
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More