London-based production studio KODE Media has signed director Liz Unna for commercial representation in the U.K. Growing up between Santa Fe and Brussels, and now based in London, Unna began her career in the creative services department of Discovery Channel. She then moved to Channel 4 as creative director of FilmFour, and subsequently of More4 when it launched. Here, she oversaw all of its on-air identity and scooped up several D&AD awards along the way. Over the course of her career, Unna has directed commercials and short films for numerous clients across the globe, including Samsung, American Airlines, M&S, Age UK, the NSPCC, Google, Dove, Microsoft and Volkswagen. She recently partnered with UK Dementia Research Institute, to focus on raising awareness around how women are disproportionately impacted by dementia. The two campaign films spotlight women who experience dementia by focusing on their most cherished memory, resonating with audiences on a profound level and leaving a lasting impact. Her work on the “Unquiet Film Series” for The Times and Sunday Times saw Unna win two D&AD pencils, several British Arrows and two Cannes Lions. Her work for Age UK, featuring actors Miriam Margolyes and James Bolam, has also been awarded at Cannes Lions….
Writers of “Conclave,” “Say Nothing” Win Scripter Awards
The authors and screenwriters behind the film โConclaveโ and the series โSay Nothingโ won the 37th-annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards during a black-tie ceremony at USCโs Town and Gown ballroom on Saturday evening (2/22).
The Scripter Awards recognize the yearโs most accomplished adaptations of the written word for the screen, including both feature-length films and episodic series.
Novelist Robert Harris and screenwriter Peter Straughan took home the award for โConclave.โ
In accepting the award, Straughan said, โAdaptation is a really strange process, youโre very much the servant of two masters. In a way itโs an act of betrayal of one master for the other.โ He joked that โYou start off with a book that you love, you read it again and again, and then you end up throwing it over your shoulder,โ crediting author Robert Harris for being โso kind, so generous, so open throughout.โ
In the episodic series category, Joshua Zetumer and Patrick Radden Keefe won for the episode โThe People in the Dirtโ from the limited series โSay Nothing,โ which Zetumer adapted from Keefeโs nonfiction book about the Troubles in Ireland.
Zetumer referenced this yearโs extraordinary group of Scripter finalists, saying โprojects like these reminded me of why I wanted to become a writer when I was sitting in USCโs Leavey Library dreaming of becoming a screenwriter. If you fell in love with movies, or fell in love with TV, chances are you fell in love with something dangerous.โ
Special guest for the evening, actress and producer Jennifer Beals, shared her thoughts on the impact of libraries. โIf ever you are at a loss wondering if there is good in the world,โ she said, โyou have only to go to a... Read More