Ken Roupenian has joined Digital Doman as vice president, Digital Studio. He will be responsible for the company’s creative teams globally, and will report to Digital Domain executive vice president/general manager, Erika Burton.
The Big Sky Documentary Film Institute is hiring a festival producer for the 2017 Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. The Big Sky Documentary Film Festival is the largest annual festival of non-fiction film in the American West. The festival draws an audience of 20,000 and film entries from every corner of the globe, with 150 non-fiction films screened and well over 100 visiting artists attending. This position will commence in July and go through early March 2017. The festival producer is responsible for planning, managing and overseeing the successful production of the annual 10-day festival happening in February.
In the wake of Barco CEO Eric Van Zele’s decision to retire later this year the company has named Jan De Witte, a former corporate officer of the General Electric Company, as CEO-designate. De Witte will join Barco’s core leadership team in June and effectively take over as CEO October 1.
LipSync has appointed Tom Russell to the role of colorist, effective immediately. Russell will work across feature films, TV drama and commercials alongside the existing grading team.
Allure and its Christie Experiential Network have named theatrical distribution executive Brett Resnick vice president of studio relations. In his new position, Resnick will guide CEN strategies and activities as a key part of its continuing national rollout. He comes to the company with 20 years of distribution experience, which began at MGM, and most recently with 20th Century Fox, guiding the release of over 300 titles including Avatar; Star Wars: Episode I, II, and III; X-Men: The Last Stand; X-Men: Days of Future Past; Independence Day, and most recently Deadpool. Resnick also spearheaded the partnership between Fox and Fathom Events, bringing classics such as The Sound of Music, Planet of The Apes and The King and I, back to the big screen.
Academy Award- and Emmy-nominated animation, VFX and design company Blur Studio has hired Dan Akers as visual effects supervisor. With nearly 15 years of experience in the VFX industry, Akers’ recent photo-realistic work for online shooter Destiny and Kia Motors was recognized with 2015 VES Award nominations, with his efforts for Destiny also taking home Best Visual Effects honors at AICP 2015.
Belgian-born director, creative director and visual artist Jean-Paul Frenay has joined Accomplice Media for U.S. advertising projects. Frenay’s eclectic output encompasses commercials, music videos, short films, live visual installations and photography. This includes award-winning work for such brands as Toyota, VW and CPH Bank. Frenay’s short film You Are the Canvas was a finalist in the Title Design competition at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. His most recent commercial project, a campaign for Lincoln and New York agency Hudson Rouge, showcases his mastery of storytelling and visual effects as a woman dances on the walls and ceiling of an elegant drawing room. He also directed a magical spot for Nissan and Digitas LBi Paris in which a Leaf “dreams” of traveling country roads while “sleeping” in a suburban garage.
Share Dimension has opened an office in Los Angeles and appointed several people to support the fast growing global organization. Christiane Ducasse has been appointed vice president, sales and business development, North America. The company is also announcing new members of their finance team, located in Europe. Dennis Siemelink will be global finance controller and Simona Bota, finance administrator. Matt Klosinski, account manager and product specialist, is also joining the Los Angeles office.
Screenvision Media has named Craig O’Connor director of distribution, event cinema. His addition to the Screenvision Media team comes in time for the company’s first highly anticipated event cinema program following their re-launch in partnership with Kaos Connect, premiering May 2016. In his new role, O’Connor will be responsible for the distribution strategy of all event cinema programs.
Deluxe Entertainment Services Group has appointed Stefan Sonnenfeld as chief creative officer. Sonnenfeld will to drive the artistic strategy that defines the Deluxe brand and ensure that the company houses and develops the best creative talent across color, VFX and editorial for film, TV and commercials. He’ll continue to color film and commercial projects and play a senior role in the development of new customer relationships to grow Deluxe’s creative business in North America.
