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Home » In Major Expansion Big Block Launches Big Block NY

In Major Expansion Big Block Launches Big Block NY

Big Block has extended its reach with a major expansion to New York City and the creation of two new divisions dedicated to multi-screen content: Big Block Live and Big Block Entertainment Group/BBEG. Through Big Block Live, the studio will continue to specialize in branded content, live action production and design for commercials, broadcast, interactive and mobile platforms, while serving as a local interface for Big Block Design Group/BBDG and the studio’s VFX, DI (digital intermediate) and finishing services in Santa Monica.

Big Block Live will also sign and represent its own roster of directorial talent. Big Block Entertainment Group is producing live theater for Broadway and other stages, feature films and television. Big Block Entertainment Group represents the most significant creative and financial evolution of the Big Block brand since its inception. The group will acquire the rights for the properties they will develop and will also co-finance their production partnerships.

Big Block Live will be headed by executive producer Mary Crosse, who was most recently executive producer at Click 3X, where she launched a live action division for branded content and established its first roster of directors. Prior to that she was executive producer at Lucky Branded Entertainment, a hybrid agency and film production company. She has more than a decade of experience at such top agencies as Draftfcb, Publicis, Havas and mcgarrybowen, producing work across the integrated space for global brands like Chase, Chevron, Del Monte, Disney, Kraft, The Wall Street Journal, Charles Schwab, Dos Equis, Intel and Jaguar. Crosse has spoken at SXSW Film 2012, Internet Week 2012, Social Media Week 2012 and 2013, Creative Week 2013 and ad:tech 2011.

Theatrical and feature film production at Big Block Entertainment Group is spearheaded by noted Broadway theater and film producer Scott Prisand. Big Block Entertainment Group recently revived Inappropriate, the critically acclaimed off-Broadway musical based on the journal entries and poetry of teenagers. The play is now at the Odyssey Theater in Los Angeles, with an eye to open in London next year. Big Block Entertainment Group has also acquired the stage rights to the musical version of Heathers, running now in Los Angeles and targeting a New York debut this spring. On the feature film front, Big Block Entertainment Group recently financed and began production on Ride, starring Helen Hunt, who also wrote and directed.

Among Prisand’s Broadway credits are Grace, Rock of Ages, Legally Blonde, Brooklyn and Broadway Dreams, as well as the feature films Rock of Ages, Jewtopia, Nic and Tristan Go Mega Dega, Beware the Gonzo, Barry Munday, Sympathy for Delicious and Hesher.

Working alongside Prisand on Inappropriate and Heathers is Broadway producer Jamie Bendell, who also worked with Prisand on Grace. Bendell, a singer and songwriter with multiple music releases, brings to Big Block additional experience in music public relations and booking.

Also operating under the Big Block Entertainment Group banner is Big Block Television. Specializing in unscripted and alternative programming, Big Block Television’s current slate has over a dozen projects in active development in both Reality and Game Show genres, with a possible eye to expand into branded content and scripted territory in the coming months.

Big Block Television will be headed by television industry veterans Billy Cooper and Andrew Greenberger. Cooper has more than a decade of experience in reality and live television, having produced such shows as Pitbulls and Parolees, My Fair Brady, Don’t Forget the Lyrics!, Little People, Big World, Forever Eden, Paradise Hotel and American Idol. Greenberger has equally impressive depth of experience in reality television having served as executive producer at Sirens Media, Big Table Media, Shed Media US, 495 Productions and 44 Blue Productions.

Big Block Television is represented by Seth Lawrence of Rebel Entertainment Partners and attorney Bill Abrams of Abrams, Garfinkel, Margolis, Bergson, LLP.

Big Block has experienced steady growth since its opening in Santa Monica in 2011, in spite of a challenging economy and turbulent times for the visual effects industry. The studio’s executives worked closely with The New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to take advantage of the city’s favorable conditions and production incentives before building out the new location.

Scott Benson, President at Big Block and CEO of Big Block Media Holdings, said, “We saw a significant opportunity to thoughtfully and strategically expand our company, leveraging our experience in branding, design and live action for the integrated space in a way that will powerfully augment our theatrical, feature film and television properties.”

“Being in New York provides us with the opportunity to have a presence in the world’s media and finance capitol and to take advantage of the tremendous artistic and technical talents the city has to offer,” he continued.

Kenny Solomon, Managing Director at Big Block, said, “Mary, Scott, Billy and Andrew are very capable and highly respected. Their leadership skills and creative talents are precisely what clients and investors look for. They exemplify the attributes, accomplishments and drive that a venture of this magnitude requires.”

About BIG BLOCK
Based in Santa Monica and New York, Big Block is the production and design studio division of Big Block Media Holdings. Big Block specializes in digital content, VFX, design, DI (digital intermediate) and finishing for commercials, broadcast, interactive, feature films, television, gaming, mobile and enterprise platforms. Big Block provides integrated end-to-end services, from concept and design to live action direction, visual effects and coding and represents the ultimate in end-to-end services for multimedia campaigns and branded content.

Key components of Big Block’s creative culture are Big Block Design Group/BBDG, whose creative leadership infuses design sensibility and brand strategy throughout the totality of the studio’s productions from inception through live action and production.

In New York, Big Block Live extends the studio’s mandate with an emphasis on live action and branded content, while Big Block Entertainment Group/BBEG focuses on the development and production of live theater, feature films and television.

Big Block was launched by business developer Scott Benson and executive producer Kenny Solomon, whose collective experience with the production of branded content makes them uniquely suited to meet the challenges of creative communication.

Big Block is housed in the Art Deco Ilona Building on Wilshire Blvd. in Santa Monica and at 110 East 25th Street in New York.

 

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.

U.K. Extends COVID Insurance Scheme; Distributes $21 Million in Cinema Grants

The U.K.’s insurance scheme for film and television has been extended until April.

Known as the Film and TV Production Restart Scheme, the groundbreaking £500 million ($676 million) fund assures productions that they’ll receive financial support in case of COVID-related losses. The program has so far accepted 100 qualifying productions.

To read the full article in Variety, click on this link. 

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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