Established this past summer as a postproduction, sound design/ mixing and visual effects holding company, New York-headquartered Burning Suits has changed its name in light of the Sept. 11 tragedy. The new moniker is Creative Content Studios (CCS), with holdings that consist of New York houses Super Dupe, East Side Video, Lower East Side Studios, Arc Light, Crush and Post Perfect. Each shop retains its own name and identity under the CCS brand. CCS CEO Steve Hendricks explained that Burning Suits NYC was originally chosen as a name "to connote the spark of creative thinking and outstanding talent. We feel the same message can be conveyed as Creative Content Studios."……MTV Commercials, New York, has been shut down as part of the network’s consolidation….Director/cinematographer Carolyn Chen has joined bicoastal/international Believe Media for exclusive spot representation. Her former directorial roost was Picture Park, Boston and Santa Monica. She continues to be repped as a DP by ICM….Key artists and support personnel from Santa Monica-based 525 Studios are headed for digital studio R!OT, Santa Monica. In tandem with this infusion of talent into R!OT, plans call for 525 to curtail operations by year’s end. Both R!OT and 525 are members of the Liberty Livewire Pictures Group…..Director Scott Young and producer Todd Young, who had both been freelancing, have teamed to launch Addiction Films. Currently housed in interim space in Venice, Calif., the new venture is in the process of lining up sales representation….Director Tony Kaye is being repped as a composer through Amber Music, New York and London….NFL Films, Mount Laurel, N.J., has signed director Pier Nicola D’Amico….Executive producer Dick Gillespie has departed Spoke Films, Los Angeles and Chicago….Writer/director Linda Hassani has joined Steel Productions, New York…J. Walter Thompson San Francisco has merged with Tonic 360, a San Francisco shop that provides Internet-based services for its clientele. The new entity is called JWT & Tonic. Tonic 360 had been operating as a separate JWT unit ever since it was bought by the multinational agency in Oct. 2000. That acquistion took place after JWT’s New York office and Tonic 360 teamed to make a successful pitch for the Sun Microsystems account….Chuck Meehan and Tricia Ting have joined Los Angeles-headquartered ad agency davidandgoliath as associate creative director and art director, respectively. Meehan, who will play a principal role in spearheading work on the Universal Orlando acount, comes over from Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, where he served as a senior writer. Ting was most recently an art director at Leagas Delaney, San Francisco….
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