LA Trip Days 2 -3: A weekend and the full contingent arrives
Sat and Sun were more relaxed acclimatisation that anything else: highlights include a trip to the Getty Museum where I learn fun things I didn’t know about Bernini, master of the Baroque
and enjoyed the sunshine and the views from some beatuiful constructed gardens.
But rather than turn this into a tourist guide, I should perhaps take advantage of the last quiet day before the storm to introduce you to the rest of the Inside Pictures crew who have now all arrived from Blighty. Here is who we are, in order alphabetical:
- Jack Arbuthnott, Development Editor, BBC Films
- Christopher Billows, Director International Distribution, Focus Features
- David Bishop, Head Of Acquisitions, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
- Nicole Carmen-Davis, Producer, Pocket Watch Films
- Stefan Demetriou, VP, Visual Content Strategy & Acquisition, EMI
- Arvind Ethan David, Producer/CEO, Slingshot
- Rebekah Gilbertson, Producer, Rainy Day Films
- Laura Hastings-Smith, Producer, Wayward Films
- Susie Hock, Director, Business & Legal Affairs, Universal Pictures International
- Adam Kulick, Partner, Goldcrest
- Ken Marshall, Producer, Steel Mill Pictures
- Andrew Reid, Head of Production, Northern Ireland Screen
- Rachel Robey, Producer, Wellington Films Ltd
- David Shear, Director Of Sales, Revolver Entertainment
- Gemma Spector, Head Of Marketing , Revolver Entertainment
A great group of people. Six producers, ranging from high art house to genre; two financiers (one public, one private) and 6 Execs, 2 from Studios, one from the BBC, one from a record label and two from a leading niche distributor. We’re all in our 30s, we all love film and the film industry and we are all hopefully pretty good at our jobs. Other than that we are pretty varied in taste, disposition and backgrounds. Some of us loved the Bernini, some were skeptical about spending a sunny Sunday afternoon in a museum; some of us wanted to lick muscle men on muscle beach, others of us were after ice-cream. Some of us venerate the high art house, some of us are genre freaks. Some can read a spreadsheet, others compose sheet music. Stefan writes novels in his spare time, Jack writes computer code; Rebekah used to be an award winning photographer and fine artist; Adam used to be a banker and, like Susie and I has an MBA; whilst Chris used to play for the NBA.
Our diversity goes beyond our past professions. In an industry often lambasted for being overwhelmingly and embarrassingly culturally and ethnically homogeneous it is bracing to realise that our small group includes a Peruvian-Canadian, a Czech-Mexican, a Malaysian-Indian, an Irishman, a brace of Jews, 3 multiple passport holders, and a range of educational geographical back-grounds.
Actually, one of those things is not true. But only one. Tomorrow our adventure formally begins. Our first meeting in the morning is with the redoubtable (not to say reputedly terrifying) Chuck Roven – producer, amongst other things, of THE DARK KNIGHT and the man whose career I most want. I’m SO excited…..
September 22nd, 2008 at 10:33
The NBA thing is not true, right?
October 14th, 2008 at 13:28
[...] Proj. Grizzly is about to ride the wave of documentary-mania that is sweeping Britain’s DVD collectors at the moment. It should be grateful for the leg-up. Troy’s incessant jabbering brought forth only two memorable moments: his speech about how he’d rather have a knife than a gun, and the film’s one truly memorable section, a chilling description of the grizzly attack that set him off on his quest. But 90% of this documentary is filler. At an hour and ten minutes, it feels extremely stretched … I lost count of the number of shots we had to sit through of that bloody suit being winched, dangled, balanced and generally leant up against stuff. Troy the protagonist talks nineteen to the dozen but has nothing interesting to say. He’s the sort of guy you’d humour until you could find an opportunity to politely leave his presence. And don’t even get me started on the anti-climax … They even blew the potentially fabulous scenery – poorly filmed on low-grade stock, Project Grizzly isn’t even visually impressive. Alongside other recent, far more memorable documentaries such as Capturing The Friedmans, Bus 174, Spellbound etc etc (yes, I’m one of the docu-maniacs), Project Grizzly looks utterly threadbare. Avoid. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The Harder They ComeLA Trip Days 2 -3: A weekend and the full contingent arrives Tags:bus 174, capturing the friedmans, fabulous scenery, grizzly attack, memorable moments, project grizzly, REVOLVER ENTERTAINMENT, Television, Troy Hurtubise No Responses [...]