NEW YORK -- Michael Muller took a circuitous path to the director’s chair, driven in part by his fear of sharks along with a profound attraction to the potential of virtual reality--all of which led to Into the Now . Produced by RSA VR, Into the Now just made its world premiere as part of the Tribeca Film Festival’s Immersive Program at the Virtual Arcade. Director Muller brings unique visual sensibilities to the VR experience as he is among the crème de la crème of still photographers with a body of work... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Once you walk through that door, you will be in Syria." That's the instruction a guide named Thea gives before entering the animated virtual reality installation "Hero," one of the immersive selections competing in the Tribeca Film Festival's Storyscapes section. Once suited up with a headset and backpack and told to close your eyes, you're walked into a room where a combination of VR animation and sensory effects plunge you into a Syrian village. Raise your hand, Thea says, if the experience... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Antonio Banderas, who shares his birthplace with Pablo Picasso, decided it finally was time to portray his hometown hero. But he leaves it to viewers of National Geographic's drama series "Genius: Picasso" to reconcile the artist's revelatory work with his treatment of the women who helped inspire it. The actor had passed on two other chances to play Picasso, intimidated by the prospect of playing the man he calls a "huge figure" from their shared birthplace of Malaga, Spain. Learning more... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The 56th D&AD Professional Awards Ceremony took place Thursday evening (4/27) in London, where three Black Pencils--the competition’s highest accolade were awarded. Host/Havas claimed one Black Pencil for its Palau Pledge campaign for the Palau Legacy Project, which requires visitors to Palau to sign a passport pledge to act in an ecologically responsible way on the island. Saatchi & Saatchi NY took home a Black Pencil for their "It’s a Tide Ad" campaign, which took over the airwaves... Read More, Comment

MENLO PARK, Calif. (AP) -- Facebook has taken the lion's share of scrutiny from Congress and the media about data-handling practices that allow savvy marketers and political agents to target specific audiences, but it's far from alone. YouTube, Google and Twitter also have giant platforms awash in more videos, posts and pages than any set of human eyes could ever check. Their methods of serving ads against this sea of content may come under the microscope next. Advertising and privacy experts say a backlash is inevitable... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Juried winners in the competition categories were unveiled on Thursday evening (4/24) at the 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival. It proved to be a great night for first-time directors who took home the top feature honors as follows: Kent Jones, first-time narrative director and writer, wins Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature and Best Screenplay in a U.S. Narrative Feature Film for Diane Marios Piperides, first-time feature narrative director, wins Best International Narrative Feature for... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- During a ceremony on Tuesday (4/24) at the Tribeca Festival Hub at Spring Studios, the 9th annual Tribeca Disruptive Innovation Awards (TDIA) honored a diverse field of disruptors, revolutionaries, and game-changers whose breakthroughs are creating radical solutions to some of the world’s most vexing problems. Journalist Tamron Hall hosted the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival’s TDIA proceedings where award recipients included: DJ Kool Herc, founding father of Hip Hop; 11-year-old activist/sensation... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Apple, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kourtney Kardashian, Amazon Music, S-Town, Overwatch, Vanity Fair and State Street Global Advisors’ “Fearless Girl” (from McCann NY) are among the winners of the 22nd Annual Webby Awards. This year’s winners will be recognized alongside Special Achievement honorees, including #MeToo trailblazer Susan Fowler, actor Jesse Williams, artist FKA Twigs, Mozilla founder Mitchell Baker, actress Laura Linney, director Steven Soderbergh, Ugly Delicious creator David Chang, and... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Matt Miller, president and CEO of AICP, has announced the AICP Awards shortlists, which are comprised of work entered into the AICP Show and AICP Next Awards. The winners of the AICP Show and AICP Next Awards will be revealed during AICP Week, a celebration of marketing in the motion image. All shortlisted pieces along with their corresponding credits may be viewed here . The 2018 AICP Show chairperson is Robin Shenfield, CEO and co-founder of The Mill; the 2018 AICP Next Awards judging chair... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- WONGDOODY, the creative agency recently acquired by global consultancy Infosys, has added two creative hires to its staff: Vanessa Witter as creative director and Amy Matheu as sr. art director. Both will report to executive creative director Pam Fujimoto out of the agency’s Los Angeles office. Witter comes most recently from Campbell Ewald, where she worked on the Kaiser Permanente, Travelocity and Covered California accounts. She will lead creative on agency accounts Hallmark Labs and Cedars-... Read More, Comment

VENICE, Calif. -- Director Alec Helm has joined Venice-based production house Hey Baby. Helm broke into the business as a freelancer and then landed at DDB New York as a jack-of-all-trades—-shooting, editing, photography, directing, even making motion graphics. After successfully filming the making-of videos for several ad campaigns, he began shooting low-budget projects which then led to directing “First World Problems” for the charity WATERisLIFE, and a short documentary for the New York City Ballet. A year... Read More, Comment

VENICE, Calif. -- Comedy director Greg Bray has returned to Venice-based production house Durable Goods for commercial representation in the U.S. He was previously with Durable Goods for a short stint before dedicating most of his efforts towards his work in markets abroad. Now that he is focused on the American market, he reunites with the Durable team. Bray is a character-driven director who intuitively embraces awkward and eccentric moments to deliver a signature brand of straightforward--and delightfully... Read More, Comment

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Production house Joinery has brought director Cali Bondad aboard its roster. Bondad had roots on the agency side and as an editor before making a successful transition to directing. Her first industry mark was at agency Mekanism, serving as technical studio manager. She then became an editor there. Her coworkers at Mekanism affectionately called her “the Sizzler,” a tribute to her skill for crafting sizzle reels that lured in new business before she transitioned to cutting broadcast spots. Her... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Framestore has promoted James Razzall to president, North America advertising. He was previously managing director of the company’s L.A. office, where he will continue to be based in his new role. Razzall joined the business in 2000 in London, rising through the ranks as a producer before embarking upon the company’s first U.S. expansion to New York in 2004. He proved an integral part of the small team’s success, building a successful base for Framestore’s U.S. operations, before venturing west... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- In the new season of "The Handmaid's Tale," there are tantalizing flashbacks to what preceded the Republic of Gilead, the bleak shredding of a flawed but free society. There also are suggestions that a fight is brewing against the oppressive state and its enslavement of women. If the awards-lavished Hulu drama is indeed poised for an explosive second season, it will be in part because the male characters — some of them — step up their rebellion against the hellish Gilead drawn from author... Read More, Comment

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Paramount Pictures is ready for its comeback story. On Wednesday at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas, studio chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos announced a sequel to the breakthrough thriller "A Quiet Place," two new Star Trek movies and trotted out its biggest star, Tom Cruise, to dazzle the audience of theater owners and exhibitors with stories of his death defying stunts in "Mission: Impossible — Fallout." "It's no secret we've had some difficult years at the box office," said Gianopulos... Read More, Comment

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- 20th Century Fox chairman and CEO Stacey Snider addressed Disney's deal to purchase most of Fox and also gave a first look at the highly anticipated Freddie Mercury biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody" in a wide-ranging and emotional presentation to theater owners and exhibitors Thursday at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas. Rami Malek's transformation into the Queen front-man certainly ended the session on a high note, as attendees got a glimpse of the band's epic journey from outcasts to superstars... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairman Tom Rothman assured theater owners Monday that his studio is dedicated to appealing to a range of audiences — from global franchises such as "Spider-Man" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series to family films, action pics, comedies and even Quentin Tarantino's Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt film "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood." Both Tarantino and DiCaprio surprised the audience of exhibitors with their appearance at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, but... Read More, Comment

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Warner Bros. Pictures brought out the big names for its CinemaCon presentation Tuesday, from stars like Sandra Bullock to movies like "Wonder Woman 2," but it was Bradley Cooper's "A Star is Born" that stole the show. Cooper showed the emotional first trailer for the film to conference attendees in Las Vegas to some hearty, and rare, applause from the crowd of theater owners and exhibitors. It's the directorial debut for Cooper, who also stars in the film alongside Lady Gaga, who plays the... Read More, Comment

BOSTON (AP) -- He was once called the most likely American in the 20th century to become president. But Robert F. Kennedy's bid to follow in his older brother's footsteps as commander in chief was cut short the same way John F. Kennedy's White House term was: by a man with a gun. Fifty years later, Bobby Kennedy's life and transformation into a liberal hero is coming to Netflix in a new four-part documentary series available Friday. Through archival footage and interviews with friends and staffers, "Bobby... Read More, Comment

LONDON (AP) -- U.S. media giant Comcast on Wednesday offered 22 billion pounds ($30.7 billion) for Sky PLC, topping a bid from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox and setting up a bidding war for Britain's biggest satellite television company. Comcast said it would pay 12.75 pounds for each Sky share, 16 percent more than Fox's offer. Sky shares rose 3.9 percent to 13.59 pounds as investors bet Fox would sweeten its bid, and Sky withdrew its recommendation that shareholders accept the Fox offer. Sky is based in... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mel Brooks is just two months shy of his 92nd birthday and he still carves out time for movie nights with his pal Carl Reiner. The two just recently got together to watch a restoration of the 1938 Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland classic "The Adventures of Robin Hood." Classic film and proper presentation are important to the legendary comedian and filmmaker, especially in the age of streaming. This week, Brooks will be on hand to kick off the ninth annual TCM Classic Film Festival at the... Read More, Comment

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) -- Bill Cosby was convicted Thursday of drugging and molesting a woman in the first big celebrity trial of the #MeToo era, completing the spectacular late-life downfall of a comedian who broke racial barriers in Hollywood on his way to TV superstardom as America's Dad. Cosby, 80, could end up spending his final years in prison after a jury concluded he sexually violated Temple University employee Andrea Constand at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. He claimed the encounter was consensual... Read More, Comment

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- Claire Foy says the controversy over her pay for the Netflix series "The Crown" has changed her approach to Hollywood. "It definitely opened my eyes to a lot. And I certainly won't be naïve about those things," Foy said in an interview on Monday in Las Vegas. "It's really opened my eyes about what I am allowed to have an opinion about, and what I'm allowed to stand up for myself about. And I think that's really changed my approach to myself and other women in this industry. It's been only a... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced that Paul Polman, CEO, Unilever, will be honored with the Cannes LionHeart Award in recognition of his commitment to building sustainability into the heart of Unilever’s operations. Polman took over as Unilever CEO in 2009, and since then has led an ambitious plan to decouple the FMCG company’s growth from overall environmental footprint and increase its positive social impact through the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The creative organization ADCAN has launched its fifth annual filmmaking competition. ADCAN’s mission is three-pronged: to shine a light on various global issues and the charities addressing them; to foster the careers of unsigned talent in creative industries; and to promote the use of creativity as a force for good. The 2018 ADCAN Awards ceremony will be held in Los Angeles on October 18, 2018. ADCAN partners with a group of different charities each year and invites unsigned filmmakers and... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- More than 120 incarcerated men and dozens of prison guards play roles large and small in Madeleine Sackler's "O.G.," a drama believed to be the first fiction film ever made entirely within the walls of a maximum security prison. "O.G.," which recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, stars Jeffrey Wright (whose performance earned a Tribeca jury award as Best Actor in a U.S. Narrative Feature). But its most powerful resource is the authenticity of its high-security setting and its... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Summer starts early this year in Hollywood with the potentially record-breaking release of "Avengers: Infinity War" Thursday, and the marquee Marvel superheroes couldn't be coming at a better time. The box office for the year is down nearly three percent, and the industry is looking to redeem itself after last summer, which, despite hits like "Wonder Woman," had its worst performance in more than a decade. Although all studios are embracing the year-round blockbuster schedule and massive hits... Read More, Comment

After 10 years of lean, threadbare, Lilliputian tales, Marvel Studios has, thank heavens, finally decided to go big. The scale of "Avengers: Infinity War," of course, isn't a departure for Marvel. It's an apotheosis. But is it possible to supersize what is already colossal? "Infinity War," which brings together more than 30 significant characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and enough spandex to clothe a small nation, is a little like launching an invasion after the war was already won... Read More, Comment

There's a scene at the end of the Netflix documentary about controversial figure Rachel Dolezal when she enters a DMV and comes out a few minutes later with a new name. "A new start," she says. The whole process seems painless and courteous. If only she could change other parts of her identity so easily. "The Rachel Divide" is a fascinating, comprehensive and well-crafted documentary about a one-time civil rights activist in Washington state whose life unraveled after she was outed as a white... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- An estimated 6.3 million people saw the premiere of Netflix’s “Lost in Space” within the first three days that the streaming service made it available this month, a promising start that would make it one of the outlet’s more popular series after the phenomenon of “Stranger Things.” The Nielsen company is starting to draw the curtain back on some of the user numbers for streaming services, which have been reluctant to do so on their own. “We’ve had a lot of anxiety among our clients about... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- It's another weekend of buzz versus pure star power at the box office as the word of mouth sensation "A Quiet Place" finds itself neck-and-neck again with Dwayne Johnson's "Rampage." This time buzz had the slight advantage. Studio estimates on Sunday have placed "A Quiet Place," with $22 million, in first, and "Rampage" in second with $21 million, but it's possible those numbers may shift when final results are tallied on Monday. Still, John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" continues to be a mini... Read More, Comment

For this cinematic, hand-crafted, fully animated 90 second film for Travel Oregon out of Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Ore., bicoastal studio Psyop teamed with Copenhagen-based Sun Creature. Kylie Matulick and Todd Mueller of Psyop directed the piece titled “Only Slightly Exaggerated” which captures the natural beauty of Oregon but with a heightened sense. Some 2,160 frames depict a total of 13 locations throughout Oregon. Psyop worked with Sun Creature for 19 weeks, spending a total of 2,288... Read More, Comment

This film takes us through the life of Tom, sharing key moments--both good and bad--that made him tremble. Being bullied as a boy, his first romantic encounter, a car accident, the birth of his child. But when he gets older and he is stricken with Parkinson’s Disease, his tremor is no longer due to emotions--and it doesn’t stop. A supered message appears which reads, “Only life’s emotions should make us tremble.” Directed by James Lees through production house LA PAC for Paris agency Publicis... Read More, Comment

Wieden+Kennedy London and The Mill introduce a new animal sensation--Puggerfly, half pug, half butterfly--in this U.K. spot promoting Three and its new partnership with Snapchat. The visual messaging app is now included in Three’s Go Binge offering. All new and existing Three customers are able to Snap, chat and share to their heart’s content without using any of their data allowance. The ad transports viewers to a luscious British forest where butterflies and nature thrive; a reflection of the... Read More, Comment

Director AG Rojas, represented by Park Pictures, unveils Florence + The Machine’s latest track “Sky Full of Song” with an inspired grayscale art film.. Chock full of metaphor borrowed from the song’s lyrics, Rojas pairs still life, psychedelic swirls and the unusually still figure of Florence, immobile on a hardwood floor. The song and music video were released for the recent annual Record Store Day on April 21, 2018, where a limited edition, double A-side 7” vinyl of the track became available... Read More, Comment

New York/San Francisco-based content creation/production company BODEGA served as the agency and production company on a content campaign for NYC-based nonprofit Trickle Up which works with the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people to help them achieve financial independence and social connection, advancing their economic and social well-being. Continuing a multi-year collaboration that has filmed stories in India, Africa, and Guatemala, director/creative director Mark Littman led the... Read More, Comment