Finger Music & Sound Design has hired Mario Davis as head of film & TV music. Formerly of Angry Mob Music, Davis has been fortifying the Finger Music catalog, beefing up its songwriter and trailer composer roster, and expanding the company’s reach to film and TV series music, moves that will help expand Finger’s capabilities in the advertising marketplace. Davis began his career at Chicago-based music promotions firm JMA Promo, where he promoted projects by an eclectic roster of artists including The Strokes, Outkast and Christina Aguilera. Davis’ duties spanned both radio promotion and new artist development, which exposed him to promotional strategies for both established major label artists and up-and-coming independent talent. He later founded Kestrel Artist Management, a boutique music management and consulting company where he promoted many notable careers, assisted in attaining recording and distribution deals with major and independent labels, and secured publishing and licensing opportunities, as well as the development and implementation of successful music and lifestyle marketing initiatives with companies such as Filter Magazine, Barney’s Co-Op, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and American Apparel. An accomplished musician, Davis studied music performance, composition, and production at Princeton University….Production manager Brittany Progulske has been promoted from production manager to producer, Dee Farmand from special projects manager to producer, and Tone Hoeft from production & development coordinator to a creative manager at MRB Productions, a Hollywood, Calif.-based producer of television, feature, new media and commercial content, founded by two-time Emmy Award-winning producer Matthew Brady….
Gene Hackman Died Of Heart Disease; Hantavirus Claimed His Wife’s Life About One Week Prior
Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease a full week after his wife died from hantavirus in their New Mexico hillside home, likely unaware that she was dead because he was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer's disease, authorities revealed Friday. Both deaths were ruled to be from natural causes, chief medical examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell said alongside state fire and health officials at a news conference. "Mr. Hackman showed evidence of advanced Alzheimer's disease," Jarrell said. "He was in a very poor state of health. He had significant heart disease, and I think ultimately that's what resulted in his death." Authorities didn't suspect foul play after the bodies of Hackman, 95, and Betsy Arakawa, 65, were discovered Feb 26. Immediate tests for carbon monoxide poisoning were negative. Investigators found that the last known communication and activity from Arakawa was Feb. 11 when she visited a pharmacy, pet store and grocery before returning to their gated neighborhood that afternoon, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. Hackman's pacemaker last showed signs of activity a week later and that he had an abnormal heart rhythm Feb. 18, the day he likely died, Jarrell said. Although there was no reliable way to determine the date and time when both died, all signs point to their deaths coming a week apart, Jarrell said. "It's quite possible he was not aware she was deceased," Jarrell said. Dr. Michael Baden, a former New York City medical examiner, said he believes Hackman was severely impaired due to Alzheimer's disease and unable to deal with his wife's death in the last week of his life. "You are talking about very severe Alzheimer's disease that normal people would be in a nursing home or have a nurse, but she was taking care... Read More