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Home » Director Ross Kauffman Added to MUGSY Lineup

Director Ross Kauffman Added to MUGSY Lineup

Academy Award®winning documentary director Ross Kauffman has joined MUGSY for exclusive U.S. representation.

Kauffman is best known for his film “Born Into Brothels,” which won the Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature. In addition to directing the film, he served as a producer, cinematographer, and co-editor. Passionate about documentary storytelling, Kauffman believes “there isn’t anything more powerful and provocative than the truth. While it’s not always easy, as a filmmaker I believe that it’s necessary to capture a subject’s genuine feelings and raw emotion. In doing so, not only do we bring to life the true essence of a story, we also can captivate an audience while simultaneously moving them.”

Over the past several years Kauffman has begun directing commercial, non-profit, and corporate short form projects, including an awareness campaign for Camfed International, and corporate spots for Goldman Sachs’ 10,000 Women and 10,000 Small Businesses initiatives.

MUGSY will be Kauffman’s first commercial production company home and he is looking forward to the opportunity to bring his talents to the small screen.

“Through my work, which has taken me across the globe, I’ve come to understand the meaning and the importance of collaboration,” says Kauffman. “For me, filmmaking is about collectively coming together to deliver a shared vision. Working as a cohesive unit with not only my crew, but also my agency and the companies behind each product, only strengthens my talent and ability to tell and deliver a meaningful story.”

“We are obviously excited to welcome a filmmaker of such talent and vision to MUGSY,” says Executive Producer Sean Reilly. “Ross is as much a visual storyteller as he is a documentary director. When viewing his work I am most impressed by how his cinematography elevates his stories, bringing a stronger reaction from the viewer. His eye for detail, as well as his ability to extract honest performances, make him an excellent commercial director.”

Currently, Kauffman has two documentary features in production: “Wait For Me,” the story of a mother’s search for her son who went missing 27 years ago; and “E-Team,” which follows three Human Rights Watch investigators (for which he was awarded a National Endowment of the Arts grant).

Working in the film industry for over 20 years, Kauffman began his career as a production assistant on commercials and TV programs. He then apprenticed with Sam Pollard and Victor Kanefsky, before becoming a documentary film editor. Kauffman has been directing for nearly 15 years, and is also regarded as a top documentary cinematographer. From the war zones of Libya to the front lines of Kashmir, he has filmed around the world. Kauffman is also an adjunct professor at Rutgers University, and has guest lectured at high schools and universities worldwide.

In addition to commercials, MUGSY specializes in long-form and digital content production, web design and creation, and brand entertainment development. MUGSY is represented by Ilene Silberman.

MUGSY is U.S. division of international production company Filmservice Productions, and maintains offices in New York, Los Angeles, Prague, Buenos Aires, and Moscow. For more information, please visit www.mugsy.tv.

Title: Camfed International awareness campaign
Production Company: SeeChange Films
Director: Ross Kauffman
Director of Photography: Bahareh Houseini
Editor: Jeremiah Zagar

–Shoot Publicity Wire

 

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

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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