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Home » PRESS RELEASES » People

Creative Studio BLOCK & TACKLE Readies for a Busy Summer with Four Key Talent Additions

Partners and Creative Directors Adam Gault and Ted Kotsaftis of NYC-based creative studio BLOCK & TACKLE are pleased to announce several key appointments to their growing team. The new additions include Producer Dorian Carli-Jones, Designer/Animators Mike Russo and Alex Winakor, and Intern Katelyn Costello. “As our clients seek more interesting ways to stand out, we always […]

Becca Falborn Promoted to Executive Producer at Sound Lounge

Sound Lounge, New York’s leading independent provider of sound services for advertising, television and feature films, has promoted Becca Falborn to Executive Producer. In her new role, Falborn will manage the studio’s busy advertising division and supervise its team of producers. She will also lead client relations and sales. Additionally, she will manage Sound Lounge Everywhere, the […]

Lee Dichter: Meticulous Mixer, Maestro, Magician, Mensch

Lee Dichter. Photo by Sarah Shatz by Peter Tonguette When Lee Dichter, CAS, was informed that he would receive the Motion Picture Editors Guild’s 2018 Fellowship and Service Award, it did not take long for the veteran sound re-recording mixer to accept. In fact, it took the equivalent of about “six frames of film” for […]

Experiential Sound Designer Rob Ballingall Joins NYC’s Sonic Union

NYC studio Sonic Union hired composer and mixer Rob Ballingall to work on immersive experiences and other emerging technology projects out of the company’s locations in Bryant Park and Union Square. Most recently at Nylon Studios, Ballingall has a résumé that includes compositions for clients including Ford, Kellogg’s and Walmart and sound design and engineering […]

Alchemy Post Sound’s Joanna Fang to Speak at Infocomm

Caption: Emmy-winning Foley artist Joanna Fang demonstrates some of the tools of her trade in this image posted on her IMDB site. Westchester, New York — Alchemy Post Sound Foley artist Joanna Fang will take part in a discussion on how classic Hollywood film sound techniques are being applied in the emerging world of immersive […]

D.W. Leitner Garners SMPTE Fellowship

Long-time friend David Leitner has been named a SMPTE Fellow. David wrote for NYCPPNEWS in the past, but most know him from his work as a director/cinematographer. He has unique know-how in the history of cinema that he somehow translates into working solutions for digital cinema.

Do You Know the Hidden Dangers When Working on Film and TV Sets?

On WNYC radio this past Thursday, October 29th, host Leonard Lopate’s guest Monona Rossol offered very relevant – and often eye-opening – safety information for anyone who steps on a location or stage set when working in film and television production. Accidents on film and TV sets happen all the time. Rossol points out how […]

Editor William Goldenberg in Revealing Interview on Top Hollywood Directors

You’ve probably heard of William Goldenberg ACE, the editor. Okay, maybe not. Like many of the best in the business, he’s not someone who throws around his Hollywood credentials. But you’ve seen or read coverage of the top directors whose films he’s edited – John Hughes (‘The Breakfast Club’), Michael Mann (‘Heat’), Ben Affleck (‘Argo’ […]

Indies in New York Get Boost as Moving Image Museum Adds Sony Pic Classics’ Michael Barker

Today the New York indie production community gets some top level backing with the announcement that the Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria will be adding Sony Pictures Classics Co-President and Co-Founder Michael Barker as co-chair of the museum’s board of trustees. Barker comes in to his position sharing board responsibilities with Ivan Lustig. […]

Cutters New York Adds Austin-based Andrea Mendoza

Editor Andrea Mendoza comes back to the city where she began her career and joins the staff at Cutters New York.

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Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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