California's expanded Film & TV Tax Credit Program 2.0 includes a provision called the Career Readiness Initiative that helps students from all walks of life gain access to production-related careers. It requires each project in the tax credit program to offer hands-on opportunities ranging from paid student internships and professional skills tours to teacher externships. So far, the feedback from students and educators has been overwhelmingly positive.
A high-profile example of the initiative in action is Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time. Director Ava DuVernay made career readiness and access to the filmmaking process a priority. She personally interviewed and selected three community college students for on-set internships and created an atmosphere of inclusiveness that has inspired the students to continue exploring careers in the production industry. Here are a few Career Readiness Initiative stats to date:
• 97 internships
• 18-49 student age range
• 30% of students from work-based learning programs
• 70% of students from community colleges
• 4 classroom workshops
• 24 teacher externships
• 48 projects made contributions to underwrite paid internships and scholarships
STARZ Series Counterpart Shoots In Berlin
The critically acclaimed STARZ Original series Counterpart began production on February 28 in Berlin. The 10-episode second season of the one-hour scripted drama is from creator Justin Marks, Gilbert Films and Anonymous Content, with MRC serving as the studio for the series. Season two of the espionage spy-fi thriller will continue production in Los Angeles later this year.
Betty Gabriel (Get Out, Purge: Election Year, Westworld) joins the cast as Naya Temple, a former FBI agent recently hired by the Office of Interchange to clean house. Gabriel is best known for her portrayal of Georgina in the Best Picture Oscar-nominated film Get Out.
Gabriel joins Academy Award®-winner J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, The Accountant, Juno) who plays Howard Silk, Olivia Williams (The Sixth Sense, Hyde Park on Hudson) as Emily Burton Silk, Harry Lloyd (The Theory of Everything, Jane Eyre) as Peter Quayle, Nicholas Pinnock (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Ian Shaw, Nazanin Boniadi (Homeland, Ben-Hur, Hotel Mumbai) as Clare, and Sara Serraiocco (Salvo, Cloro, Worldly Girl) as Baldwin.
Succession Wraps In New Mexico
After shooting previous episodes in New York, the HBO Drama series Succession recently came to New Mexico. A Succession episode was lensed during the second half of January in the state.
“Succession starts off 2018 in what we are confident will be another booming year of production for our film industry in New Mexico,” said Nick Maniatis, director of the New Mexico Film Office.
The production employed 89 New Mexico crew members and approximately 75 New Mexico background talent.
The HBO series is created by Jesse Armstrong and executive produced by Armstrong, Adam McKay, Frank Rich, Kevin Messick, Will Ferrell, Jane Tranter and Mark Mylod. Succession follows the Roy family—Logan Roy and his four adult children—who control one of the biggest media and entertainment conglomerates in the world. The series tracks the lives of the key members of the Roy family as they grapple with what the future will hold for them as their aging father begins to take a step back from the company.
Latest Crop of VES Fellows Unveiled
The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the Society’s newest VES Fellows, who will be celebrated with the other honorees at a special VES Honors event later this month. This year’s venerated VES Fellows who will be bestowed with the post-nominal letters “VES” are: Matt Aitken, Girish Balakrishnan, Randall Balsmeyer, Michael Conte, Lisa Cooke, Bryan Grill, Thomas Knop, Arnon Manor and Susan Rowe.
VES 2024 Fellows
VES Fellow Matt Aitken, VES. Aitken has been an integral part of Weta FX since it first opened its doors. With two Oscar nominations and five VES Award wins, including the top award of Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature for Avengers: Infinity War, Aitken’s versatility and creative talent are foundational to the studio’s success. As head of visual effects, Aitken leads Weta FX’s artists across three countries, and is responsible for filmmaker and studio relationships. Prior to assuming this executive role, Aitken was one of Weta FX’s most experienced visual effects supervisors on projects including Avengers: Endgame, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Marvel’s Eternals. Aitken has been an active VES member for 20 years. He was instrumental in establishing the New Zealand VES Section in 2011, the 5th VES Section to be created, and was New Zealand Section chair for its first five years of operation.
VES Fellow Girish Balakrishnan, VES. Balakrishnan has more than a decade of experience driving business studio strategies, business development and production innovation across live action, animation and games. As director of creative innovation at Netflix, Balakrishnan leads the content & production studio investment strategy on the application of... Read More