Academy’s Science and Technology Council Appoints Three New Members – Film News in Brief

Jennifer Yuma
·4 min read
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Academy’s Science and Technology Council Adds New Members

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have appointed David Pierce, Andy Serkis and Jeffrey White to it’s Science and Technology Council 2021-2022 membership, bringing its roster to 25 individuals.

Pierce’s previous roles include working as an assistant chief and chief operations officer at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center at the Library of Congress — where he was responsible for the acquisition, conservation, documentation and digitization of the public archives of motion pictures, TV and radio sound. Pierce has been an Academy Member-at-Large since 2019.

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Serkis is an award-winning actor with performances including “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “King Kong,” “The Planet of the Apes” trilogy, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and will next appear in “The Batman.” He has been a member of the Academy’s Actors Branch since 2012.

White, who is currently an executive producer consulting with Drafthouse Films, has worked in the feature production department of Warner Bros. and held roles as vice president of production and producer for Winkler/Daniel Productions at Paramount Pictures. He has been a member of the Academy’s Producers Branch since 1982.

The council co-chairs for 2021-2022 are visual effects branch governor Craig Brown and member-at-large Annie Chang.

Cinema Audio Society Announces Student Award Finalists

The Cinema Audio Studio announced five finalists for the 2021 student recognition award at the 58th annual Cinema Audio Society Awards, where the recipient will receive a check for $5,000.

Finalists include: Lily Adams, from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD); Bernice Chu, from the Sheridan College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning; Lindsay Ellise, from Chapman University; Shehryar Khan, from Universidade Lusofona and Karthik Vijaymohan, from the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University.

Additionally, director and producer Sir Ridley Scott will receive the cinema audio society filmmaker award, along with re-recording sound mixer, Paul Massey, being honored with the CAS career achievement award.

The event will return live on March 19 at the Wilshire Grand Ballroom at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown.

Sinking Ship Partners with Paper Owl Films for ‘Finding Audrey’

Sinking Ship Entertainment announced their partnership with Paper Owl Films for the film adaptation of Sophie Kinsella’s novel, “Finding Audrey.”

In Kinsella’s novel, “Finding Audrey” follows the life of a teenage girl suffering from social anxiety disorder after a triggering bullying incident at school. Now, being envisioned as a family film, the new adaptation will tell the story of Audrey’s recovery, with the help of her family and a boy named Linus.

Kinsella talked about the adaptation, saying, “I’m thrilled to have worked with Paper Owl Films on this exciting and imaginative adaptation of ‘Finding Audrey.’ I can’t wait for fans of my book to see the characters come to life on screen, and also for a wider audience to meet Audrey and her family.”

“Finding Audrey” is produced by Paper Owl Films and will be distributed internationally by Sinking Ship Entertainment.

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles Awards Five Anthony Rhulen Grants to 2021 InFocus Filmmakers

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles (NFMLA) has awarded a total of $7500 in grants amongst five 2021 InFocus filmmakers.
In addition to receiving funding, each of the awardees had their projects screened at various NFMLA InFocus Festivals.

The filmmakers awarded with funding include Andrew Chung, Karina Dandashi, Merced Elizondo, Lorena Gordon and Déwun Owusu.

As part of the NFMLA Film Festival programming the filmmakers were provided meetings with various entertainment industry executives and creatives such as Trevor Rotenberg at 3 Arts Entertainment, Kyle Chalmers at Blumhouse Television, Giselle Johnson at Sony Screen Gems, Jiwon Park at ABC Signature, Sandino Moya-Smith at MGM Studios, Alexander Zahn at Netflix, Yira Vilaro at Amazon Studios and Ozi Menakaya at Creative Artists Agency.

The awarded funds are a continuation of giving that is part of a larger, year-round endowment established at NFMLA by the Rhulen Family in celebration of the life and career of the late film Producer Anthony Rhulen. These artist investments aim to support, nurture and champion emerging independent, diverse voices and aid in the creation of new documentary and narrative projects.

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