Archive for November 15th, 2011

Old Lyme, Conn. – November 15, 2011 – During the 45th annual Country Music Association Awards, audio specialist Sennheiser delivered another evening of rock solid audio and flawless RF performance courtesy of its EM 3732-II receivers, SKM 2000 and SKM 5200 transmitters and its ew 300 G3 IEM series monitoring system. The following Sennheiser users also won awards and performed live onstage using Sennheiser transmitters and capsules:

– Blake Shelton: Top Male Vocalist
(Sennheiser SKM 2000 coupled with an MMD 953-1 capsule)
– Miranda Lambert: Top Female Vocalist
– (Sennheiser SKM 2000 couple with an MMD 935-1 capsule)
– Sugarland: Vocal Duo of the Year
(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)
– Lady Antebellum: Vocal Group of the Year
(Sennheiser SKM 5200-II coupled with an MD 5235 capsule)

Among the notable performance highlights was a rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” by the Zac Brown Band and music legend Gregg Allman, during which Brown used a Sennheiser SKM 2000 coupled with a MMD 935-1 mic capsule.

For Bexel staff engineer Jim Dugan, who designs antenna systems for a living and was RF coordinator for this year’s CMAs, Sennheiser was a foundational component of the show’s overall success. “We had 10 of the Sennheiser EM 3732-II receivers, which are really flexible and can cover any of the transmitters the artists are using,” he says. “They are well built, clean and have a very wide switching bandwidth which helps tremendously — especially in shows with 300 or more frequencies. Most importantly, they sound great.”

The sound and dependability of the RF transmitters is key in an awards show that features no less than 29 performers. “This is a challenging show that is all about music, and the only time someone isn’t playing is when someone is introducing music,” commented John Harris, the broadcast music mixer at CMA who had two of his Music Mix Mobile trucks on site. “Since there are performances way out in the middle of the arena and on three different stages, the RF has to be rock solid. The Sennheiser transmitters are very reliable and there were no blips.”

“Overall, the show was a great success,” adds monitor engineer Jason Spence. “Sennheiser had a big role in this, and we had quite a few artists with Sennheiser mics out there. Whether you are the guy mixing, or if you’re in the audience or the artist who is performing, dependability is everything. We had zero issues with the Sennheiser mics, and they sounded great.” In Spence’s role, the right mic choice means that he can get the sound he is looking for faster: “It means I don’t have to hack up the EQ. For example, for Miranda, all I had to do was set the gain, put a high pass filter on it, run it up on the IEMs and put a little bit of reverb on it. Done.”

During this year’s CMAs, a variety of other Sennheiser microphones were used in many other applications. For example, Vocal Group of the Year Lady Antebellum used the new Sennheiser MK4 large diaphragm condenser as overhead microphones, and Sennheiser mics were on every drum kit used by every band during the evening’s performances. “Every band that played had e 602-IIs on the kick drum,” says John Harris. “Everything about my mixes start with drums, and the Sennheiser 600 and 900 series just knock it out of the park.”

“We had a perfect show and it was great,” Dugan concludes. “The CMA show is a very complex, technical environment with a lot of electronics. The fact that the Sennheiser equipment performs flawlessly and sounds great is a testament to its overall quality. I will definitely use Sennheiser again next year.”

Createasphere’s Digital Asset Management Conference-Europe made its bow at The Hague last week to strong response and an engaging lineup of speakers and sponsors. Createasphere – a global community builder for the entertainment technology industry – launched its Digital Asset Management Conference (DAM) in Los Angeles in 2010. Since its launch, based on positive response from sponsors and attendees, Createasphere has presented three additional conferences, including ones in New York and Los Angeles. Unveiling a European version of the conference on November 8 and 9 was in direct response to interest from European experts and companies engaged in leading asset management endeavors, according to Kristin Petrovich Kennedy, President of Createasphere.

Createasphere’s Digital Asset Management Conference-Europe was co-located with SPAR Europe 2011. With multiple platforms of images, video, and digital assets comes a new set of integration, archiving, multi-platform, security, and digital rights management issues; these two highly-focused conferences gave business professionals the opportunity to see end-to-end technologies.

Kristin Petrovich Kennedy comments, “As our U.S. conferences have gained momentum, we heard from our colleagues in Europe that they were looking for the expert-driven conferences we were presenting. We have been fortunate to work with some of the most intriguing, inspiring and informative speakers this week. Given the response we received, we are looking forward to returning to Europe in 2012 with an expanded program.”

The European conference kicked off with keynote speeches from Ed Lantz, Thomas Schleu and Dieter Reichert. Lantz, president and CTO at Vortex Immersion Media, is a technologist and futurist with a background in hardware and software engineering, quantum physics, and electromagnetics. He is currently participating in the building and planning of an immersion environment at a new MGM Grand in China. Schleu, founder of CANTO software and recent winner of Createasphere’s coveted DAMMY of the Year Award, is a highly respected software expert in DAM. Reichert is one of the co-founders of censhare AG. He is responsible for strategic planning and worldwide marketing of the censhare Communication and Publication System.

Createasphere’s DAM conferences shape the standards and explore the urgent global issues of digital asset management in the sectors of advertising, entertainment, media, publishing, museums, sports, and higher education, and will return to the U.S. in 2012 on February 22-23, 2012 in Los Angeles, September 27-28, 2012 in New York, and in Europe on November 13-14, 2012. For complete information, visit the website at http://www.createasphere.com/En/explore-expos-conferences.html.

About Createasphere
Createasphere is a global community builder for the entertainment technology industry, advancing technologies and careers through Expos, Conferences, and online offerings.

Createasphere was founded in 2001 as HD EXPO, and over the past decade has grown into a global company that develops and presents influential events for the content creation community, on line and face to face. Founded by Kristin Petrovich Kennedy in Los Angeles, Createasphere became part of Diversified Business Communications in 2009, now driving their entertainment strategies and properties division. Currently Createasphere is presenting the Entertainment Technology Expos in New York and LA; the Digital Asset Management Conference in New York, Los Angeles, and Europe; The DAMMY Awards in New York; Cinema India Expo in Mumbai; the online news and content portal CreativeProCoalition.com; 3D Road Shows; and Post Production Master Classes.

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Media Contact:
Chris Purse, 818.303.8088
ignite strategic communications
chris@ignite.bz or mimi@ignite.bz

Boris FX, the leading developer of integrated VFX and workflow technology for video and film, today announced that Boris Continuum Complete 8 AVX (BCC 8 AVX) is now available. BCC 8 AVX delivers 200+ comprehensive VFX and compositing filters to Avid Media Composer, NewsCutter, and Symphony. Flicker Remover and Videoscope tools, integrated Beat Reactor technology for audio-driven effect animation, a new Film Glow filter, and support for 64-bit operating systems headline the Version 8 release.

BCC AVX gives Avid editors the most comprehensive VFX and compositing plug-in suite ever created. A whopping 200+ filters include 3D Objects such as Extruded Text, 3D particle effects, image restoration tools, lens flares and lights, award-winning chroma keying and compositing, a full suite of color correction tools, time-based effects such as Optical Stabilizer, warp and perspective effects, and blurs, glows, and cinematic effects. All BCC AVX filters take advantage of either multi-processing or OpenGL hardware acceleration for an interactive effects design experience.

Over 1,000 professionally-designed presets are included free with every installation of BCC. Customers can save and freely share their own presets and build customized preset collections tuned to the specific needs of a project – without the need for a costly subscription service. Presets can be shared with matching BCC installations on any host application in which BCC is installed. In addition, via the Boris Transfer workflow utilities, BCC is the only plug-in set that allows easy VFX migration between Avid, Adobe, and Apple editing software – with parameters and keyframed information intact. Boris Transfer AE transfers Avid or Final Cut Pro sequences to After Effects while Boris Transfer FCP transfers sequences between Avid and Final Cut Pro.

Boris Continuum Complete 8 AVX New Feature Highlights

• BCC Videoscope checks color levels at any stage of an Avid project, ensuring broadcast-legal colors of the final output or any individual element in the project.

• BCC Film Glow creates the soft feel of exposed film.

• BCC Flicker Fixer repairs video affected by flickering light or uneven shutter exposure.

• Beat Reactor Technology is now built into many BCC AVX filters, making it easy to generate audio-driven effects such as a pulsing light, a glow, or even an image wipe that follows along with the beat of an audio track.

The following new features will be available to BCC 8 AVX customers via a forthcoming free software update:

• BCC Stage Light simulates production lights, projectors, or stage lighting.

• BCC Lens Flare 3D creates cinematic looks and stylish broadcast design elements.

• BCC Particle Emitter 3D provides a powerful, OpenGL-accelerated particle system.

• BCC Organic Strands emulates flowing strands of matter, glowing plasma, and more.

• BCC Wild Cards allows editors to build complex designs of 2D images in 3D space.

Pricing and Availability
BCC 8 AVX is available immediately through the Boris FX worldwide reseller channel and direct from the Boris FX web site at www.borisfx.com for an introductory MSRP of $995 USD. The regular MSRP will be $1,995 USD. Owners of previous versions of BCC AVX may upgrade for an introductory MSRP of $295 USD. The regular upgrade MSRP will be $599 USD. A free 14-day trial version is available from www.borisfx.com

New York City, NY, November 16, 2011 – Zviah Eldar, Gravity’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer, today announced the signing of multi-disciplined Creative Director Alex Postelnicu. Postelnicu has previously worked with many of the industry’s top branding companies, and also has an accomplished live action directing reel. He brings extensive design and VFX experience to Gravity, a renowned branding and content creation company.

Eldar said, “Alex does not fit into a tidy little box, since he truly does it all — Concept Development, VFX, Design, Interaction/Interface Design, Motion Design, Event Design, Live Action Directing and Photography. In the past, he’s been a top gun for such companies as Humble, Digital Kitchen, Brand New School, Psyop, Stardust and Superfad, to name a few. We’re thrilled to add him to our Gravity team.”

Adds Gravity’s CMO and EP Bob Samuel, “Alex is equally comfortable on set directing, working as a Creative Design Director, or compositing in Flame with a room full of clients. He is a very talented and delightful person. His international background has helped him develop the ability to create functional, smart and effective communication design that has a positive response, and that can be used in advertising, fashion, architecture, industrial design or art.”

ABOUT ALEX POSTELNICU:

Prior to joining Gravity, Alex Postelnicu has collaborated with some of the top visionaries at acclaimed creative design studios such as Psyop, Brand New School, Imaginary Forces, Superfad, Mass Market, and Digital Kitchen. His appetite for other creative and resourceful approaches for a broader range of mediums has seen him at ad agencies and creative solutions companies like Publicis, AY&R, Sapient, WeArePlus. In the international arena, he has worked on numerous, high profile projects for such accounts as VW, Samsung, HP, Axe, Verizon, Ritz, Toyota, Dodge, Porsche, Chase, NYSE, Zurich Financial and MoMA, among others.

With a background rooted in different cultures and languages, Alex has established an eclectic and solid foundation in visual communication, whether it is live action direction, design, photography, typography, architecture, experiential, interactive or another visual exploration. He has made it a point to delve into and immerse himself in many forms of media and the craft and tools behind it.

His initial studies at Rensselear in design and technology then progressed into to architecture and industrial design at ETH. Both experiences secured his passion for making sure the way people communicate information through design is as smart and functional as possible; yet never forgetting to have fun in the process.

In his professional experiences, Alex has worked in many capacities within the advertising world. Specifically in production and post-production his roles have been as creative director, art director, live action director, visual effects supervisor, lead designer, flame artist, storyboard and concept artist.

All of these experiences have propelled him to where he has been most recently as Creative Director and Strategist for a Hybrid Creative Services Company working on branding strategies and designs, improving the offerings and visual identities of some internationally established brands. With comprehensive work experiences, Alex has bridged the gap in this last role by combining advertising, technology and design in a focused effort to streamline advertising and communication.

In addition, Alex has worked on large scale interactive installations shown at Ars Electronica, Siggraph Advanced Graphics Conference, and live video performances (VJ) software used by the some of the most renown bands today. He also contributed to a permanent installation at the Museum of Modern Art and a 180° Hemispheric show, seen daily at the American Museum of Natural History.

ABOUT GRAVITY:

Gravity is an international creative, content and brand communications company with proven expertise in three integrated divisions: Features & Television, Commercials and Digital. With 250 talented professionals across offices in New York, Los Angeles, Stamford CT, and Tel Aviv, the company is a widely renowned generator of high-end visual effects, creative content, motion graphics, animation, branding and digital strategy.

Gravity’s powerful combination of innovation and design are consistently aligned to help brands drive meaningful, dynamic connections with consumers – whether they experience them via television, cinema, websites, social media or mobile applications.
The company’s clients include DreamWorks, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, The Weinstein Company, Coca-Cola, GM, Mercedes Benz, Verizon, Pantene, MGA Entertainment, Carlsberg, Kmart, and Braun. Gravity’s feature film credits include “Tower Heist,” “The Adjustment Bureau,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “Arthur,” “The Other Guys,” “Salt,” “The Reader,” and “Ghost Town.” The company’s television credits include HBO’s “Bored to Death,” “The Sopranos” and “Sex and The City.”

Gravity’s New York office is located at 315 Madison Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY, 10017. The phone is 212/986-1584. The company’s West Coast office is located in the Lantana Building, 3000 West Olympic Blvd., Santa Monica, CA, 90404. The phone is 310/264-3909. For more information, please visit www.gravityworld.com

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Televisora Nacional S.A. (TVN), Panama’s most popular TV network, has built a new TV facility in Panama City and installed a full complement of Grass Valley™ production and distribution equipment to support the studio’s routing and master control operations for its established TVN channel and new TVMax channel.

Targeted to the male audience, TVMax was created to absorb all the sports programming from the existing TVN channel. As a result, a new sports news program was created for TVMax and the channel now also airs drama series, sitcoms, and reality shows.

The significant installation, among the largest in the country, was completed in May 2010 and is now fully on air. The studio is complete with a Grass Valley Kayak™ HD video production switcher, Apex audio routers, Trinix™ video routers, a Maestro™ master control and channel branding system, numerous K2 Summit™ media servers, GeckoFlex™ signal processing modules, and a Sonata™ MADI audio converter.

“We have had a great experience with the Grass Valley Concerto™ routers and Kayak switchers in the past, so we wanted to move to the next generation of Grass Valley products for our new channel,” said Rolando Guerra, Chief Engineer at TVN and TVMax. “We need 24/7 reliability for our operations and Grass Valley technology always provides that. The company also has a great local presence here in Panama, which we have come to appreciate and make use of when necessary.”

The Grass Valley K2 Summit servers are being used to seamlessly play back content in multiple resolutions and compression formats. K2 Summit can automatically convert between HD and SD formats (up/down/cross) and various aspect ratios and manage the multitude of file types Televisora Nacional deals with on a daily basis, including DV 25, DV 50 and AVC-Intra. This is a unique capability that other servers on the market do not provide.

“The TVMax installation enabled Grass Valley to show its wide range of local service and support capabilities, in addition to supplying a large amount of equipment,” said Jeff Rosica, Executive Vice President of Grass Valley. “This was a challenging implementation for our engineers as we had to integrate a number of disparate systems and make them all work seamlessly within a file-based environment. Everyone agrees this project was a resounding success on a number of levels.”

Televisora Nacional is a long-time customer, having purchased Grass Valley cameras, servers, routers, and other equipment for the network’s TVN channel, the predecessor to TVMax.

Besides the new equipment, Grass Valley also provided a range of services for the new project that included system installation, training, and maintenance.

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From Comedies ‘The Big Bang Theory’ to ‘Two and a Half Men,’ Dramas ‘NCIS’ to ‘Criminal Minds,’ to Fantasy and Sci-Fi — TV Technology Rivals Hollywood Effects





SAN RAFAEL, Calif., Nov. 15, 2011 — This year’s fall television season features an impressive array of visual effects (VFX) created using Digital Entertainment Creation (DEC) software from Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) on sci-fi thrillers, dramas and sitcoms, new shows and returning favorites. Postproduction studios are applying blockbuster movie techniques and technologies to create compelling and immersive television programming on at least 50 shows this season, from the prehistoric creatures in “Terra Nova,” to crime scene re-creations in “NCIS,” to a powerful tornado in “Criminal Minds.”


“Television schedules and budgets can be unwieldy — yet producers and audiences demand feature film quality,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment.


For Fox’s new hit series “Terra Nova,” VFX house Pixomondo made extensive use of Autodesk Maya software to animate believable, lifelike dinosaurs and help create the visually imaginative world. “Autodesk Maya is integral to the television VFX work we do on ‘Terra Nova,’” said Pixomondo General Manager and Executive Producer Mark Miller. “We are challenged to create feature-worthy VFX within the parameters of a television production, so we have to make sure we are efficient and tap the right tools for the job. Working with industry standard tools like Maya is essential for a company like Pixomondo that operates 11 facilities and has over 600 artists collaborating on projects around the world.”


The CW’s “The Vampire Diaries” features impressive physical transformations of werewolves and vampires, as well as photo-real smoke, fire and sizzling skin effects — all created by Los Angeles- and Vancouver-based Entity FX — using a Maya-centric synchronized production pipeline integrated with its own proprietary digital makeup software. Entity also created numerous effects for “Charlie’s Angels” and “The Secret Circle.” “We’ve worked with Maya since before it was called Maya,” noted Dan Rucinski, Entity FX executive producer. “We’re always eager to see the toolset expand with every generation, because as the tools grow, our capability to create expands exponentially.”


In HBO’s noir-sitcom season opener of “Bored to Death,” Click 3X tapped Autodesk Flame Premium 3D visual effects and look development software for a complex scene requiring a blend of live-action and photo-real computer-generated (CG) animation with advanced compositing. Click 3X achieved a weathered look by combining matte paintings and CG assets in Autodesk Flame software. Senior Flame Artist Aaron Vasquez painted trees, changed the lighting of buildings, and animated cars, traffic and even digital doubles to fill in the scene. “When creating realistic visual effects, our job is to match a virtual set to a real-world environment to draw viewers into the story,” said Click 3X VFX Supervisor Theodore Maniatis. “Integrated creative tools like Flame Premium and Smoke for Mac help us deliver that necessary touch of authenticity.”


MFX in Los Angeles has a reputation for creating impressive illusions for non-effects-driven television shows. The studio relied on an integrated Flame and Autodesk Flare software-based pipeline with Autodesk Smoke for Mac software for digital set extensions, greenscreen work, CG environments and 3D tracking on some of this season’s most popular sitcoms: “How I Met Your Mother,” “Big Bang Theory,” “Dexter,” “Mike & Molly,” “Shameless,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Friday Night Lights,” and “Last Man Standing,” as well as the new hit drama “Prime Suspect.” “We’re thrilled to work on such a variety of popular TV shows and even more proud that this season some of our effects work ended up comprising as much as 10 minutes of running time in a single episode,” said Rick Redick, MFX Design visual effects producer.


• The popular new drama “Teen Wolf” called for a fully digital alpha-male teen werewolf, for which Eden Effects turned to Autodesk 3ds Max modeling, animation, rendering and compositing software. The talented team at Eden also worked extensively on the new seasons of “NCIS,” “Fringe,” “Community,” “Chuck,” “Pan Am” and “The Playboy Club.”


• FuseFX used 3ds Max for the 3D animation on their 10-15 active television shows in production — creating particle systems, sensory visualizations, CG trains and animals as well as storm systems and set extensions on shows as varied as “Criminal Minds,” “Glee,” “The Good Wife,” “Hung,” “Luck,” and “Alphas.”


• LOOK Effects relied on Maya software for two series this season: “Bones” and “The Finder.”


• Level 3 used Autodesk creative finishing software (Flame and Smoke for Mac) for 3D visual effects, editorial finishing, look development and color grading on fifty shows, including: “Alphas,” “Castle,” “Bones,” “CSI: NY,” “Drop Dead Diva,” “Fringe,” “House,” “The Office,” “The Simpsons” and “Weeds.”


• Spin Pro used Maya and Autodesk Inferno software for two effects-heavy mini-series, “The Borgias” and “Titanic.”


Commenting on this season’s line-up, Marc Petit said, “We’re pleased that artists apply Autodesk tools to help solve so many of the complex VFX challenges they face week after week in some of the most impressive programming currently on home screens.”


About Autodesk
Autodesk, Inc., is a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software. Customers across the manufacturing, architecture, building, construction, and media and entertainment industries — including the last 16 Academy Award winners for Best Visual Effects — use Autodesk software to design, visualize and simulate their ideas. Since its introduction of AutoCAD software in 1982, Autodesk continues to develop the broadest portfolio of state-of-the-art software for global markets. For additional information about Autodesk, visit www.autodesk.com.


Autodesk, AutoCAD, Flame, Flare, Inferno, Maya, Smoke and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. Academy Award is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Mac OS is a trademark of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. © 2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, November 15, 2011 – Big Vision Empty Wallet (BVEW), the networking organization dedicated to bringing both emerging and established artists and innovators together and helping them collaborate, create and showcase their work, has announced the winners of the 2011 BVEW Screenwriting Competition. The winners were chosen by a judging panel comprised of Margin Call writer/director JC Chandor, New York Times Bestselling author Luanne Rice, and Emmy, Peabody, and Academy Award-winning writer and filmmaker Robert Levi.

The winners are:

1st place – Death in Gujarat by Christopher J. Baier
2nd place – The King of 46th Street by Elia Cholakis and James Rejent
3rd place – Black Diamond by Karen Marie Howland

All three winners receive meetings with top agents and production companies, including Carrie Alexander of Paradigm, Jody Hotchkiss, owner of Hotchkiss and Associates, Inc., which has represented the distinguished screenwriters of such films as Secretariat, American Gangster, Live Free or Die Hard, and The Kite Runner and the Senior VP of Production and Development from a major LA-based production company (name only revealed to winner). In addition, the 1st place winner will receive a reading of their screenplay for invited industry guests and friends in NYC or LA (winner’s choice).

Big Vision Empty Wallet recently teamed up with Canon to launch its first National Film Pitch Competition, which is accepting submissions through January 30, 2012. The purpose of Big Vision Empty Wallet’s National Film Pitch Competition is to find the next great feature film and get it made. Canon will be awarding the Grand Prize Winner with a 30-consecutive-day HDSLR Camera and Canon EOS EF “L” Series Lens Package Rental, plus a 1-week re-shoot. The winner will also receive other free rental packages and services to help them get their film made from additional sponsors, including a Producer’s Package from Media Services/Show Biz Software, Redrock Micro, Quick Film Budget, konsonant/, Ataboy, Rotting Television and Daryl Eisenberg Casting. The Grand Prize is valued at over $100,000. An additional prize furnished by Media Services will be awarded to the Viewer’s Choice Winner for Best Pitch Video, selected through online voting.

When contestants submit to the competition they receive a free one-year membership to Big Vision Empty Wallet. Contestants must be residents of the United States. To submit, visit: http://www.bigvisionemptywallet.com/national-film-pitch

Participants must submit the following by January 30, 2012:

· A treatment for their dream feature film that they would make using the valuable prizes provided by the competition sponsors.
· A promotional video, trailer or scene that pitches their film.
· Bios of the creative team.

The Top 10 Finalists will be announced on BigVisionEmptyWallet.com on February 10, 2012, at which time, online voting will open to decide the online winner. The esteemed judges will give each finalist a score based on originality, style, professionalism, marketability, quality of work and so on. The Top 3 Finalists will be announced on March 1, 2012.

The Top 3 Finalists will have from March 1, 2012 – April 1, 2012 to complete the first draft of their screenplay and submit it for judging in the final round. Online voting for the best pitch video will continue throughout this time.

The judging panel will select the Grand Prize Winner, which will be announced on BigVisionEmptyWallet.com and RottingTelevision.com on May 1, 2012.

The judging panel includes:

· Russell Carpenter – Academy Award-Winning Cinematographer, Titanic
· Maureen Ryan – Producer, Academy Award-Winning Documentary Man on Wire, Project Nim
· Heather Matarazzo – Actress, Welcome to the Dollhouse (Independent Spirit Award)
· Rik Cordero – Award Winning Commercial, Film and Music Video Director
· Alexander Buono – Academy Award Nominated Cinematographer, 10-year veteran Saturday Night Live
· June Diane Raphael – Writer and star of upcoming feature Ass Backwards, Writer of Bride Wars

ABOUT BVEW:

Big Vision Empty Wallet is an international networking organization dedicated to bringing together artists and innovators and helping them create, collaborate, and showcase their work. We inspire the creative class to create great change by creating great work.

Members Can:

FIND ARTISTS TO COLLABORATE WITH:
- Attend our ongoing events in cities around the world.
- Post casting and crewing notices on our projects board and in our member bulletin.
- Create a profile on our site where you can share your work and information about yourself as an artist and the art you create.
- Interact with other members who you want to work with by sending them a private message on the site.

CREATE WITH EASE:
- Take advantage of our exclusive member deals and discounts.
- Use our resource guide, including over 125 production forms, NY and LA vendor directories, as well as our listings of film commissions and unions.

SHOWCASE YOUR WORK:
- Screen your films or exhibit your work at our events.
- Gain free online entry to all of our online competitions.
- Upload your work onto your member profile.

AFFECT CHANGE:
Give back to your community at our local Chapter events in NY, LA, Philly and DC. We host events in other cities around the world too and will be expanding our events to Chicago, Boston, Toronto, London and Madrid! Each Chapter is associated with local charities and non-profits. Our members? work is always showcased through screenings, exhibits and performances as members network and give back.

ABOUT BVEW’S FOUNDERS:

ALEX CIRILLO is a filmmaker born and raised in New York. In May 2010, she and Dani Faith Leonard launched Big Vision Empty Wallet after having produced film screenings and competitions through their sister company, Industry Power Play. Cirillo is also a Producer at Washington Square Films where she works on feature films, documentaries and commercials, and specializes in TV & New Media development. She recently worked on Margin Call, a feature film starring Kevin Spacey, Jeremy Irons and Stanley Tucci, which premiered at Sundance 2011 & opened in theatres this October, and Francine, an independent experimental drama starring Melissa Leo slated for release in 2012. Cirillo also serves as Grant Manager for Emmy-winning Director Robert Levi’s and Bowery Arts & Science’s National Endowment for the Humanities Grant for a documentary about legendary jazz musician Hank Jones. Additionally, Cirillo is the chairwoman of New York Women in Film & Television’s Gift Bag Committee. This summer she had the honor of serving as a judge for the Boston Comedy Festival’s New York Showcase and she is currently in pre-production on a documentary about children in inner city Baltimore gaining confidence and life skills with the help of The Tender Bridge.

DANI FAITH LEONARD is a writer and actress based in New York City. She has acted in independent films and theatre in the US and overseas. She can be seen writing and performing with the sketch comedy troupe Really Sketchy. In June 2008, she founded Preen Productions under which she and business partner Alex Cirillo ran Industry Power Play, a series of monthly film screenings and events for the independent film and performing arts community of NYC. In May 2010, they launched BigVisionEmptyWallet.com, a networking organization dedicated to bringing artists together from all over the world. She currently has two films in pre-production and is looking forward to what this exciting year will hold personally, and for Big Vision Empty Wallet.

For more information and to become a member of Big Vision Empty Wallet, visit http://www.bigvisionemptywallet.com/join.