Duarte Writes A Story About A Little Chair…

A new branded content piece follows a little chair from a small town traveling to the big city in hopes of saving its ailing mother.

Duarte wrote the live-action spot with his co-writer Drew Grubich to include themes based on the brand's core elements (Midwest Values, Can-do Attitude, Restless Spirit, Product Excellence.) They were able to use the product's key features as organic plot points as our hero works with an artist (Design), a fighter (Strength) and a nurturer (Comfort.) The story takes place in an odd world where a chair has a human mother and kittens hatch from eggs, but it is executed in an emotionally grounded style.

The spot was shot on a Sony F3 and on a set of Cooke S4i lenses by DP Oscar Rivera. Shooting took place over 5 days in New York, Tucson and Flagstaff.

Credits

Director/co-Writer: Nickolas Duarte

Production Company: Crown Chimp Productions

Voice Over: Jason Huggins

Ma: Lawannah Curry

The Artist: Christopher Koval

The Fighter: Fred Lux

The Nurturer: To-Ree-Nee Wolf

Dr. Mister Doctorson: Jay Kyle Petersen

Nurse: Antonella Cassia

Massage Couple: Lauren Nichols, Drew Grubich

Producer: Margoth Barrera

Director of Photography: Oscar Rivera

Editor: Matthew King

Co-Writer: Drew Grubich

Music: Adgio Hutchings

1st AC: Charity Bidegain

Production Design: Jessica Van Ravenswaay

Make Up: Sonia Campbell

Colorist: Luke Padgett

Storyboard Artist: Ridge Young

Production Design Asst: Gianni Scarpino

Production Assistant: Keith Wagner

Special Thanks:

Chezale Rodriguez

David Horn

Mike Marsh

Monica Coulter

Cliff The Lowpriest

John Sears

Grace Baumgartner

Adam Ray

Love Smack Studio

The Adobe Guest House

A Day 'N Nite Salon & Spa

Rise Combat Sports

About Nickolas

Nickolas' commercial work has earned him a National ADDY, 2 Silver Tellys, an ADC Young Gun finalist mention and a Museum of Modern Art nomination. His short and experimental films have been recognized consistently on the national and international levels. He has directed content for Adidas, the NBA, BMWDesignWorksUSA and the University of Arizona. He runs Crown Chimp Productions out of Arizona. Nickolas is represented by Rated Content out of NYC for national/international commercial projects.

—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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.