Articles by Scott Lehane

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ASC President Richard Crudo Warns of Spiritual Sickness in The Industry

May 8, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on ASC President Richard Crudo Warns of Spiritual Sickness in The Industry

In light of the death of Sarah Jones, the camera assistant killed on the set of Midnight Rider in February, American Society of Cinematographers president Richard Crudo penned a letter that appears in the May issue of American Cinematographer, warning of a “spiritual sickness” in the film industry, citing “narcissism and a sense of entitlement [that] have drained some people of the ability to see anyone as being like themselves.” […]

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Sheriff’s Deputies Accidentally Kill Tosh.0 PA John Winkler

April 11, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Sheriff’s Deputies Accidentally Kill Tosh.0 PA John Winkler

West Hollywood Sheriff’s Deputies accidentally shot and killed 30-year-old John Winkler while responding to a report of an assault with a deadly weapon Monday night. Winkler was recently hired by Comedy Central as a production assistant on Tosh.0. Winkler moved to L.A. six months ago from Washington to pursue a career in entertainment. […]

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California Tax Incentive Bill Clears Legislative Hurdle

March 26, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on California Tax Incentive Bill Clears Legislative Hurdle

The California Film and Television Job Retention and Promotion Act of 2014 (AB 1839) passed the State Assembly’s Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism and Internet Media Committee yesterday by a vote of 7-0. The legislation, authored by Assemblymembers Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) and Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima), would expand and improve the State’s current program to keep production jobs in California. The bill, which has widespread support among unions, guild, trade associations and studios, has 64 co-authors, including a majority of the State Assembly. […]

Animation

This is the End for Modus FX as Montreal VFX House Closes its Doors

March 7, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on This is the End for Modus FX as Montreal VFX House Closes its Doors

Montreal-based visual effects house Modus FX closed its doors on Friday after seven years, laying off over 100 employees.

Founded in 2007 by Hybride alumni, executive producer Yanick Wilisky and president Marc Bourbonnais, the studio specialized in attracting Hollywood and international film work, rarely taking on Canadian domestic projects or television work. Most recently, Modus contributed high-end visual effects for such films as Source Code, The Avengers, RoboCop and Riddick. The company’s recent foray into animation, Sarila, was shortlisted for the animation Oscar but didn’t make the final cut. […]

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Deluxe to Close Hollywood Film Lab

March 7, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Deluxe to Close Hollywood Film Lab

Deluxe’ COO Warren Stein sent a letter to customers earlier this week announcing that the company will close its Deluxe Film Laboratory in Hollywood on May 9. The company also recently closed its film lab in London, leaving just a small front-end facility in New York. […]

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Steven Poster Responds to Midnight Rider Tragedy

February 25, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Steven Poster Responds to Midnight Rider Tragedy

Steven Poster, ASC, president of IATSE Local 600, International Cinematographers Guild issued a statement yesterday on the tragic death of assistant camera operator Sarah Jones, who was killed on Thursday in Wayne County, Ga. while filming Midnight Rider, a biopic about Gregg Allman of the The Allman Brothers Band, directed by Randall Miller. […]

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Industry Unions Unite to Fight Runaway Production

February 21, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Industry Unions Unite to Fight Runaway Production

California IATSE Locals, in conjunction with the Teamsters, Local 399 and the Studio Utility Employees, Local 724 will host a meeting on Saturday at Pickwick Gardens in Burbank to kick off a State-wide job recovery campaign aimed at bringing entertainment jobs back to California. All of the IA locals throughout the state are participating. […]

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Bill Introduced to Expand California Tax Incentives

February 20, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Bill Introduced to Expand California Tax Incentives

California State Assemblymembers Mike Gatto (D-Los Angeles) and Raul Bocanegra (D-Pacoima) introduced a bill yesterday that would expand California’s tax incentive program and open it up to big-budget studio films, network TV shows and shows shot for online OTT distributors like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu. The bill, (AB 1839), was co-authored by 59 additional legislators, including 50 Assemblymembers and nine State Senators. […]

Animation

Chris Wedge Takes Us on an Epic Adventure

January 7, 2014 Scott Lehane Comments Off on Chris Wedge Takes Us on an Epic Adventure

For director Chris Wedge making the animated 3D spectacle Epic was an undertaking of “epic proportions.” The film had been germinating since 1998 when he and writer William Joyce attended an art exhibition of 19th-Century paintings that depicted intricate fantasy realms in the woods. “The paintings had magical notions of tiny civilizations living in the trees and bushes,” Wedge recalled. “They looked like magnificent worlds, and I thought there had to be a movie here.” […]