$10,000 check for Malachi Leopold’s Sudan doc

MALACHI LEOPOLD IS BOUND FOR THE SUDAN, thanks to a $10,000 grant he received in order to make the expenses of the trip. He departs April 5 for a full month of shooting a documentary centered on one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who returns to his native village after a 22 year separation from his parents.

Leopold received the $10,000 check April 1 from the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees based in Geneva, Switzerland.

He will be accompanied by DP Ian Issitt and two New York producers. The short doc will be edited pro bono in the New York studios of MTV, which also may distribute it, through its on-going activist support for Sudan refugees.

Leopold will follow Kuek Garang, one of 27,000 young Sudanese boys whose villages were destroyed during the Sudan’s horrific 20-year Civil War that began in the early 1980s. Garang, who lives in Rogers Park, will reunite with his parents and find a location to build the only school his little village will have with funds raised back in the U.S.

NEW THIRD STREET PARTNERS, describing itself as the first-ever “Attention Agency,” has opened with president Sean Smith, chief creative officer David T. Jones and COO Andrew Thompson, who believe that in the present economy, “brands and businesses are in need of ides and products that actually generate revenue now more than ever.”

Smith previously was WXRT-FM’s marketing director; Jones had launched and led Draftfc’s Emerging Platforms division as its award-winning executive CD, and Thompson most recently had been corporate controller of BP Capital Management.

Making their approach to client relationships attention-grabbing is that they seek an equity stake in the businesses with which it partners. “Our success is directly tied to it,” says Smith. “That’s why Third Street seeks the best clients, partners and collaborators on earth.”

Third Street Partners is located at 1419 W. Lill; phone 312/841-9352.

RESOLUTION DIGITAL STUDIOS added Ryan Pribyl as its facility engineer, a new position, and the same one he’d held at now-defunct Avenue Edit where he’d worked for five years. Between Avenue’s closing last October and RDS, Pribyl was freelance and helped provide engineering for The Colonie, the editing boutique of his fellow Avenue colleagues.

When the studio was looking for an engineer for its 32,000-sq. ft. facility, RDS audio engineer Bryen Hensley made the call to Pribyl, who started his new job in mid-March.

AWARD-WINNING EDITOR TOM BRASSIL joined Cutters, immediately thereafter traveling to New Zealand to edit a Coors/DraftFCB campaign. He’s a 20-year veteran who began his career with NuWorld editorial and most recently helped the Outsider start-up.

CELEBRATING ITS SILVER ANNIVERSARY the Chicago Latino Film Festival will present more than 100 features and short films April 17-29, starting with “El Regalo” (“The Gift”) at the opening night gala at the at AMC River East theatre. Three films by Chicago Latino filmmakers Tadeo Garcia, Victoria Cervantes and Vicente Serrano will be presented.

This oldest and most compressive Latino film festival in the U.S. continues to be directed by its founder and executive director Pepe Vargas. He is also the director of the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago.

CALL FOR SPEAKERS for the Chicago eLearning & Technology Showcase to be held at Roosevelt University Aug. 19. Creators and producers of online learning are being sought to speak on eLearning development tools, custom developers and resellers, mobile and social applications, virtual presentation strategies and a whole lot more. Contact Mike Tillman at 630/584-0134, or see