Director Anthony Garth has joined Seed Media Arts, the Roy Skillicorn-founded company headquartered in Chicago with offices in L.A., for national representation except for Detroit. Avalon Films continues to handle Garth in the Detroit market. The director’s credits span such clients as Chevy, Ford, Lincoln, Dassault, GM, Jeep and Frontier. Garth’s Chrysler “Born of Choir” spot and Michigan Tourism’s “Pure Michigan” have won multiple awards for agencies McCann Erickson and Doner, respectively. He began his career turning out music videos for the likes of The White Stripes and Jim Jones, and later moving up the charts to Eminem and Kid Rock…..Ben Conrad has launched L.A.-based live action production company GenPop. As co-founder of Logan, creative director/director Conrad worked with brands including Apple, Nike, BMW and Ford. He is widely known for directing the viral Gymkhana series with rally driver Ken Block, which has racked up 200 million-plus views. Gymkhana also grabbed two Gold Pencils from The One Show, among many other awards. Gymkhana 5, set on the streets of San Francisco, is the most popular installment, reaching over 80 million views on its own. GenPop has assembled a roster of creative technologists and directors spanning live action, animation, projection mapping, experiential and virtual reality. The talent lineup includes Conrad, Andrew Bruntel, Fellow, Riley Blakeway, Collider Studio, Josh Forbes, Master of Shapes, Andrew Gura, Renascent, Steven Ilous, Geoffrey Lillemon, Pieter Henket and tabletop/lifestyle director Tiger in a Jar. Execs include EP Pierre Nobile, Nick Moceri who heads GenPop’s feature and TV ventures, and managing director Alex Anderson….Editor Chris Murphy has joined Whitehouse Post’s L.A. office. He spent the past nearly decade at Canadian shop Relish which continues to handle him for Toronto-based work. He has cut for clients including Google, Bose and Habitat for Humanity…..
Bill Condon, Jennifer Lopez Unveil “Kiss of the Spider Woman” At Sundance
A lavish, MGM-style musical is not typical Sundance Film Festival fare. But Sunday night Bill Condon brought such a creation—well, part of one—to Park City, Utah, with his adaptation of "Kiss of the Spider Woman," starring Jennifer Lopez.
Audiences broke out in spontaneous applause during the screening for Lopez's song and dance numbers. She plays an old Hollywood screen siren in a movie-within-the movie. The packed Eccles Theater also gave Lopez, wearing a glittery spiderweb themed frock, a standing ovation after the show.
"I've been waiting for this moment my whole life," Lopez said.
The story, which revolves around the conversations between two cellmates in an Argentine prison, was first a novel by Manuel Puig in 1976 and has been adapted for stage and screen over the years. A 1985 film adaptation starred William Hurt and Raul Julia. Hurt won an Oscar for his performance. On Broadway, it won multiple Tony Awards.
Condon wrote and directed this new version, which is seeking a distributor. Diego Luna plays an imprisoned revolutionary Valentin Arregui, whose new cellmate Luis Molina (Tonatiuh) loves movies, celebrity and glamour and enthusiastically recounts the story of a favorite movie musical, called "Kiss of the Spider Woman" to Valentin, giving them and the audience a break from their bleak reality.
While the film has memorable moments of escapist spectacle, it also delves into serious topics of gender identity. Molina tells Valentin that they don't feel like a man or a woman—which Valentin finds odd at first but grows to understand.
Before the screening, Condon said that one of the things the movie is about is "the attempt to bridge the incredible differences that separate us so often." He quoted President... Read More