New York Women in Film & Television and IRIS, a collective of women filmmakers, has selected the screenwriters to participate in the second year of The Writers Lab. The program is the only lab in the world dedicated to providing script development for women writers over the age of 40, and is funded by Academy Award-winner Meryl Streep.
Post Factory NY, a Sim Group company, has appointed David Feldman as senior vice president for features and television as part of the facility’s ongoing effort to broaden and enhance its service offering. Feldman, previously director of feature sales for Company 3 and Deluxe, New York, will lead sales and customer relations for newly expanded features and TV finishing services at Post Factory NY. He will also liaise with other Sim Group companies to provide film and television producers with packaged services covering multiple aspects of production and post.
Post Factory NY has appointed Liam Ford chief technology officer. Ford joins the company with more than a decade of post-production engineering and IT experience, most recently as vice president of technology at Company 3, New York. At Post Factory NY, Ford will assume the lead role in technology operations, strategy and planning. His first task will be to guide the technical aspects of a major expansion of the facility’s color grading and finishing services for theatrical and television projects.
Barco has announced the departure of its chief financial officer, Carl Peeters, who has decided to pursue a new professional opportunity. Ann Desender, currently vice president finance & control will succeed Peeters as CFO for Barco. The change will become effective in September.
New York City Media and Entertainment Commissioner Julie Menin has announced #NominateNYC, a new initiative that will work towards bringing greater diversity to the film and entertainment industry. According to recent reports from the USC Institute for Diversity and Empowerment at Annenberg and UCLA’s Bunche Center for African American Studies, women directed only 4 percent of the top-grossing films of 2014, while people of color directed 13 percent. Women and people of color accounted for less than 10 percent of writers of the top 163 films of that year. People of color held 13 percent of lead roles in the 163 top films of 2014, and women 26 percent. Additionally, across 4,610 speaking characters in the 100 top grossing films of 2014, only 19 were lesbian, gay or bisexual, and zero were transgender.
Senior colorist David Cole has joined FotoKem’s Creative Services Division, deepening the facility’s digital intermediate talent bench. One of Cole’s first projects, based at FotoKem’s Burbank headquarters, will be Legendary’s upcoming Kong: Skull Island.
VFX supervisor Eric Gambini has joined FuseFX, Vancouver, as the company continues to add staff to service the region’s boom in television production. A native of France who has worked at visual effects facilities around the world, Gambini most recently served as on-set VFX supervisor on the CW series The 100. Also new to FuseFX Vancouver are VFX producer Graeme Marshall and CG supervisor Adam Marisett.
GPL Technologies has chosen post-production industry veteran Chris Peterson to lead its office on the East Coast. Peterson, who will serve as account manager/Northeast from GPL’s New York office, brings extensive experience as a producer, post-production executive and marketing specialist.
The New York Women in Film & Television’s first annual Sabrina Wright-Gilliar Scholarship will be presented to Briana Ayala June 28 at the Academy for Careers in Television and Film graduation ceremony at the Skirball Center. The scholarship honors the memory of the legendary prop master Wright-Gilliar and will be given to a female high school senior graduating from TvF in Queens.
Vista Group International Limited has appointed Derek Forbes to the newly created role of chief operating officer. Forbes, currently president, Vista Entertainment Solutions USA, will continue to be based in Los Angeles. Leon Newnham, currently vice president, operations, VES USA will take over from Forbes as president. The announcement was made today by Murray Holdaway, Vista Group chief executive.
