WINDY CITY WEST’S PARTY Monday night in L.A. was the smash hit everyone expected from Brenda Sexton, whose Chicago-L.A. Link brought together 400 folks with Chicago connections jam-packed” at La Grande Orange restaurant in Santa Monica.
“We got rave reviews on everything, especially favorite food from Chicago which was fantastic,” an exhilarated Sexton told the Reel. To give the event a hot Hollywood vibe, TV cameras were placed around the room as guests were interviewed by columnist/Ch. 5 entertainment reporter Bill Zwecker, who hasn’t missed a Sexton-hosted West Coast party yet.
There was no shortage of top studio and production company executives, “and people were very dedicated and serious about making things happen in Chicago.”
Zwecker reported guests included actors Marilu Henner, Jeff Garlin, Kevin Farley, D. B. Sweeney, Ian Gomez, Harry Lennix, David Arquette, Parvesh Cheena, Sonal Shah; Second City’s Andrew Alexander and Joyce Sloane; producer Bob Teitel who told Zwecker he hopes to film his next movie in Chicago and NATPE marketing exec Evie Silvers.
Among the Chicagoans who flew out for the occasion were Alex Pissios of Cinestage, casting director Sharon King and director Scott Smith ? who represented the IPA, producers Gabe Polaski and Alan Polaski and CRC’s L.A.-Chicago exec Mike Gullickson.
TWO SILVER TELLYS went to Calabash Animation in the online category for General Milles’ TrixToons, the branded entertainment initiative for Trix Yogurt. Two of the three 7-minute animated shorts, “Trixters” and “Trix: The Musical,” won the Silvers and a third short won a Bronze. Telly.
ENTERTAINMENT ATTORNEY JERRY GLOVER joined the board of directors of SAG/AFTRA’s Kaufherr Members Resource Center. He’s a partner in the intellectual property firm of Leavens, Strand & Glover. The Kaufherr Center is where union members can participate in SAG’s 6th annual blood drive, Monday, Oct. 18, 1-7 p.m.
WE HEAR actor Treat Williams will star opposite Rachael Carpani in Lifetime’s pilot, “Against the Wall,” and the reason we’re mentioning this is: the family drama is set in Chicago. The Chicago Film Office, however, has never heard of it.
CREATIVE LEADER JIM SCHMIDT at Downtown Partners and Mark Mitten, the marketing honcho on the Chicago 2016 Summer Olympics bid, produced a doc that “neatly encapsulates the city’s four-month attempt to host sports’ biggest event,” Sun-Times columnist Lewis Lazare recently reported.
“Making Big Plans: The Story of Chicago’s Olympic Dreams” was written and directed by Schmidt and produced by Mitten. Both were heavily involved in the Olympics bid, so they came to the task of piecing together this filmed retrospective with extensive firsthand knowledge of the entire story.
Though the bid failed, Patrick Sandusky, Lazare wrote, the chief spokesman for the Chicago 2016 committee, is seen at the end of the documentary noting it gave the city a massive amount of marketing exposure on a global scale that otherwise might have taken 30 or 40 years to get.
WITH GHOSTS AND GOBLINS arriving soon, it’s timely to reveal that the Blago Halloween mask being sold at Fantasy Costumes was designed and sculpted by J. Anthony Kosar, a 24-year old award winning artist, who was commissioned by Zagone Studios, Northwest Side specialty mask designers.
Kosar studied at the American Academy of Art, taking time off for an internship at L.A.’s legendary special effects house, Stan Winston Studio (“Jurassic Park,” “Terminator,” “Aliens”) now Legacy Effects, where he was part of the team that built the A.M.P. suit for James Cameron’s “Avatar.”
While interning in L.A., Kosar also studied sculpture under famous creature designer and mask maker Jordu Schell. Learning of Kosar’s return to Chicago, Schell referred him to the 36-year old family-run Zagone Studios.
The talented young effects designer currently has seven masks on the market through Zagone Studios and more underway for 2011. He began work in August on the Blago mask.
Kosar’s phone is 714/332-1101, Email: j.anthony@kosareffects.com.
BACK TO THE FUTURE. It’s with a sense of d?j? vu that we welcome Pamela Maren as the Reel’s advertising account manager, since Pamela had been a sales mainstay at the Original Screen Magazine back in the day. Since then she moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where she continued to work in print and web publishing.
“The Reel continues in Ruth’s endeavor to contribute to the vitality of the community by keeping the spotlight on the work and the people behind it,” says Pamela. “I’m pleased to rejoin Ruth and hope to bring renewed energy to the business we love.” Thanks, Pam.
Pamela can be reached by phone at 773/391-3957, or Email, advertising@reelchicago.com.
