NEW YORK -- MJZ earned most honored production company distinction this week at the AICP Awards (spanning the AICP Show and Next Awards) with 13 honors followed by m ss ng p eces and Craft New York/Traction Creative, which each earned four honors. The Corner Shop, Furlined, O Positive, and SMUGGLER each received three honors. Among directors, Spike Jonze and Matthijs van Heijningen, both of MJZ, each received five honors. David Shane of O Positive, Malik Vitthal of The Corner Shop, and Dougal Wilson of... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Daniel Minahan has known Ryan Murphy since the mid-1990s. Both were journalists in L.A. at the time and were starting to pen prospective narratives for TV and film. Murphy went on to be a prolific and lauded TV series creator ( Nip/Tuck, Glee, American Horror Story, Feud ), winning four Emmys and nominated for assorted others while Minahan established himself as a producer and director, becoming an Emmy nominee in the former capacity for Outstanding Drama Series on the strength of House of... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- The 2018 AICP Next Awards debuted during a gala ceremony at the Tishman Auditorium in NYC this evening (6/12), bestowing its Best in Show mantle, known as The Most Next Award, upon State Street Global Advisors’ “Fearless Girl” from McCann NY. The “Fearless Girl” statue, which promotes the company’s She Fund, was placed on Wall Street opposite The Charging Bull, and helped spark a social movement. The winner of the Most Next honor directs a $5,000 grant from the AICP Foundation to an educational... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES/LONDON -- Ridley Scott has brought together all RSA Films affiliated companies in a multi-business restructure to form the Ridley Scott Creative Group. The Ridley Scott Creative Group strengthens the network across the affiliated companies to take advantage of emerging opportunities across all entertainment genres as well as their existing work in film, television, branded entertainment, commercials, VR, short films, documentaries, music video, design and animation, and photography. Luke Scott will... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Paramount chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige, Funny or Die CEO Mike Farah, TriStar Pictures sr. VP Nicole Brown and director Paul Feig, principal in Feigco Entertainment, were among the speakers at this past weekend’s (6/9-10) Produced By Conference who touched upon the importance of diversity and inclusion in the industry workforce, advocating increased representation for women and ethnic minorities in all phases of the business. The Producers Guild of America... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Maya Albanese--one of six up-and-coming filmmakers who made the final cut for the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), a joint initiative of the DGA and AICP--has joined production house brother for commercials and branded content in the U.S. Having mentored and collaborated with Albanese via the CDDP, brother founders--director Ted Melfi ( Hidden Figures, St. Vincent ) and executive producer Rich Carter--were duly impressed, adding her to the shop’s directorial roster. The move... Read More, Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- AT&T has completed its $81 billion takeover of Time Warner, one of the biggest media deals ever. A federal judge approved the combination just two days earlier over objections by the Trump Justice Department that it would hurt consumers. The merger could shape the way consumers stream TV and movies and how much they pay, and stands to usher in a new era of accelerating change and deal making in the media and telecom worlds. The announcement came late Thursday from Dallas-based AT&T, a... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- After AT&T-Time Warner comes the deluge. Comcast bid $65 billion for Fox's entertainment business on Wednesday, a day after a federal judge has cleared AT&T's $85 billion takeover of Time Warner. If Comcast succeeds in outbidding Disney for Fox, it would give a major cable distributor control even more channels on its lineup and those of its rivals. There are fears that it could lead to higher cable bills or hinder online alternatives. But U.S. District Judge Richard Leon cleared the AT... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Competing bids from Comcast and Disney for the bulk of Twenty-First Century Fox come as the media landscape changes and companies get more involved in both creating and distributing content. "X-Men" and other movies from Fox's studios would help beef up Disney's upcoming streaming service. Comcast, already a major cable operator, would get a larger portfolio of cable channels including FX and National Geographic. Comcast's $65 billion cash bid Wednesday is higher than what many analysts were... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- FX Networks was named North America Marketing Team of the Year for the eighth consecutive year at the 2018 PromaxBDA Promotion, Marketing and Design Awards on Thursday night (6/14). CNN Worldwide took home Marketing Team of the Year for the fourth consecutive year in the Global Excellence competition. PromaxBDA’s annual awards recognize outstanding achievement in entertainment marketing and design. Assorted winners of the two separate competitions—North America and Global Excellence—were... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced its 2018 election results, naming Gail Berman and Lucy Fisher as presidents. The duo ran unopposed and were introduced to their new constituents during the Guild’s annual general membership meeting on the Paramount Pictures Studios lot in Los Angeles. Berman and Fisher’s election is historic for the PGA as it marks the first time two women will serve as presidents of the Guild. Outgoing PGA presidents Gary Lucchesi and Lori McCreary issued a... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has re-elected Kees van Oostrum as president. He will serve his third consecutive term at the organization. The ASC Board also re-upped its roster of officers for 2018-2019, including Bill Bennett, John Simmons and Cynthia Pusheck as VPs; Levie Isaacks as treasurer; David Darby as secretary; and Isidore Mankofsky as sergeant-at-arms. “During this past year at the ASC, we have been steadfastly focused on educational events, international outreach,... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Pulse Films has signed director Amma Asante for commercials and branded content globally. Asante is the director and writer behind the critically acclaimed films A United Kingdom starring David Oyelowo and Rosamund Pike, Belle with Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Tom Felton and Mathew Goode and the forthcoming adaptation of David E. Hoffman’s The Billion Dollar Spy . Asante recently wrapped production on her latest feature, Where Hands Touch , starring Abbie Cornish, Amandla Stenberg and Christopher Eccleston... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- TheBridge.Co, the New York and L.A.-based studio which specializes in connecting artists with brands and agencies, is making a major expansion abroad with the opening of an office in London. As part of the move the company has named Derick Procope as editorial director and CEO. He’s tasked with guiding the company’s efforts for advertisers, agencies, media companies and cultural institutions based in the U.K. The new entity will work under the name TheBridge.London. The announcement was made... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Mill Los Angeles has promoted executive creative director Phil Crowe to chief creative officer and Chris Knight and Robert Sethi to executive creative directors. The move elevates a working partnership among the three that has already driven great success and positions The Mill’s L.A. studio for further growth. Crowe and Knight, co-founders of The Mill’s LA studio, relocated from The Mill’s London base in 2007. They have each been with the company for over 20 years. Sethi came on board in... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Director Darren Statman has joined Yard Dog for U.S. work in commercials and branded content. Based in London, Statman has won admirers among agencies and brands across Europe for his work. Among Statman’s best-known projects is Hades , a black-and-white film for British custom motorcycle company Untitled. Credited with reinventing UK motorcycle advertising, the film presents a haunting, noir-ish vision as it follows a lone rider through grimy London streets to a cheap coffee shop. It won... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- John Lasseter, the co-founder of Pixar Animation Studios and the Walt Disney Co.'s animation chief, will step down at the end of the year after acknowledging "missteps" in his behavior with staff members. Disney announced Friday that Lasseter — one of the most illustrious and powerful figures in animation — will stay on through the end of 2018 as a consultant. After that he will depart Disney permanently. Lasseter in November took what he called a six-month "sabbatical." He apologized "to... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.(AP) -- Frances McDormand never uttered the words "inclusion rider" at the Women In Film Crystal + Lucy Awards Wednesday night in Beverly Hills, but she did cheekily place a red bumper sticker with the phrase written clearly in black capital letters on her backside. It got the point across. Not that she needed to do a repeat performance. The concept was made instantly famous through her Oscar speech earlier this year and it proved to be a recurring theme of the evening, which saw Brie Larson making a... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Summer is always full of action and superhero pics, but this year a once dormant yet utterly adored genre is coming back in a big way: the romantic comedy. After a 2017 without any from a major studio, this summer is proving to be a re-birth for this lost Hollywood staple with five notable releases, including "Crazy Rich Asians " and a "Mamma Mia! " sequel. The reasons for the genre's decline are many. A post-recession focus on international audiences, franchises and superheroes have helped to... Read More, Comment

"The Incredibles" writer/director Brad Bird has said that his characters' powers are all born of stereotypes. Dad is strong, mom is stretched in a million directions, teenage girls put up shields, little boys are full of boundless energy and babies are unpredictable. It's why he decided that for the sequel, "Incredibles 2 ," a buoyant and quick-witted romp, he'd pick up right where we left off, in that parking lot after Dash's track meet where a new threat emerges from underground. No matter... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Ocean's 8," the female-fronted overhaul of the starry heist franchise, opened with an estimated $41.5 million at the box office, taking the weekend's top spot from the fast-falling "Solo: A Star Wars Story." At a lower price point and in less fanboy-guarded franchise, "Ocean's 8" — despite ho-hum reviews — found nothing like the stormy reception than the female-led "Ghostbusters" reboot did on the same weekend two years ago. Made for approximately $70 million, "Ocean's 8" and its cast... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The NBA Finals led ABC to victory in the television ratings last week, but it must have been hard for network executives not to wonder what could have been. The third and fourth games of the Warriors-Cavaliers series were the two most-watched shows on television last week, the Nielsen company said. It was the fourth straight year those two teams have met for the NBA crown. But a more competitive series would have meant a lot more viewers. A seven-game series would have been a gold mine. ABC... Read More, Comment

From animation studio HouseSpecial and director Kirk Kelley comes Armor del Amor , a scripted nature “documentary” short--a combination of CG and live action--that follows the mating rituals of the nine-banded armadillo to discover the dark underbelly of modern mammalian dating. The tongue-in-cheek narrative follows the armadillo (a CG character creation) as she emerges from her burrow and into the lonely Texas landscape. HouseSpecial researchers captured footage of this modern animal’s efforts... Read More, Comment

As one of six up-and-coming filmmakers who made the final cut for the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP)--a joint initiative of the DGA and AICP designed to open up opportunities for female and ethnic minority directors--Maya Albanese earned some funding for the making of a spec commercial, yielding this piece titled “History” for Georgia-Pacific. In “History,” director Albanese introduces us to a gay couple, a high school student with Down syndrome, and an immigrant to the U.S. who... Read More, Comment

For 60 years, IHOP has been all about pancakes. But now, they’re out to prove how serious they are about burgers with a brand new lineup of seven Ultimate Steakburgers. These burgers are made with all-natural 100% USDA Choice Black Angus Beef. But their burgers aren’t the only thing they’re changing—to prove how burgerin’ serious they are, IHOP is officially changing their name to IHOb, becoming the International House of burgers. To spread the news about their new burgers and their new name,... Read More, Comment

In this PlayStation spot, “Unfazed” directed by Matt Dilmore of Biscuit Filmworks for BBH NY, a gamer plays MLB The Show 18 with his friends, then gets up to grab a quick snack from the kitchen. But as soon as he walks in, he discovers a 1,000-pound bear raiding his fridge. Does this stop the gamer? Nah, he has more games to play and snacks to eat. With a quick glance at the bear, he decides he doesn’t want to deal with the situation and casually grabs chips and a drink. All the while, the bear... Read More, Comment

Minutes after Golden State won the NBA Championship crown for the second year in a row, Nike launched its latest film in collaboration with Finals MVP Kevin Durant. “Rise. Grind. Shine. Again,” created with agency Translation, this piece depicts the hard work that KD has put in throughout his life to become an NBA champion: waking up, working out, practicing, performing at a high level in games and doing it again, day after day. The spot includes found footage of Durant as a lad--where he’s... Read More, Comment

PRETTYBIRD’s executive producer and U.K. co-founder Juliette Larthe has directed the music video for Spiritualized’s track “I’m Your Man,” which is from the band’s first new studio album in six years, “And Nothing Hurt,” scheduled for release on Sept. 7. Shot in a dreamy California desert landscape, the video has a retro ‘70s aesthetic that fits perfectly with the other-worldly track written by Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce, a.k.a. J. Spaceman. DP Cristina Dunlap shot the “I’m Your Man” clip... Read More, Comment

---