ABEL CINE TECH opened a Midwest sales office and small showroom in Oakbrook Terrace, headed by Kari Hess, and joined by production salesman Gregger Jones, from Abel’s New York headquarters and office administrator Colleen Nutter.
This is Abel’s first official office since it purchased the camera and accessories sales division of Fletcher Chicago in March, 2008, and hired Hess, who’d been with Fletcher for 13 years.
For the past 18 months, Hess had been working out of her home.
Abel Cine Tech of New York, Burbank and now Chicago, sells Phantom, Panasonic and Sony cameras, Zeiss, Angenieux, Canon and Fujinon optics, compact HD cameras, HDSLR systems, accessories, recording media and expendables.
Abel’s new address is 17 W 662 Butterfield Road, phone, 630/359-5778, or toll free, 877880-4267.
FORMER BURNETT PRODUCER CHRIS FOLKENS directed a music video for Virgin Records’ platinum-plus rockers, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, produced by Nate Brown, former DDB and Critical Mass producer and shot by Joe Farris of Visions of Light.
The music video was RJA’s “Pen and Paper,” a single from their new album.
RJA asked the duo to direct “Pen and Paper” after seeing their Telly award-winning music video trilogy that Folkens helmed for Chicago band, The Lifeline.
A PUBLIC TRIBUTE TO JOHN HUGHES, whose contributions to the Chicago film industry have, nor ever will be, equaled, is in the works. It’s being planned for sometime in the next two weeks by UPM Billy Higgins, who worked on many of Hughes’ 13 movies produced in Chicago during the golden ?80s and early ?90s.
VOICE ACTORS PAT DUKE AND KIFF VANDEN HEUVEL were in Hollywood last week attending a “Study Under the Stars” sketch comedy workshop for voice actors, with workshop leaders Ed Asner, Brad Garrett and Vanessa Marshall.
Said Duke, “The crash course in comedy was the most fun I ever had acting on a mike in a recording studio.” Both actors are represented by Innovative Artists.
ACTOR/COMEDIAN JON LOVITZ (“Yeah, that’s the ticket!) who has a recurring role on “Two and a Half Men,” will appear at the Chicago Improv of Schaumburg Aug. 27, 29 and 30.
A JOHN HUGHES DOCUMENTARY, “Don’t You Forget About Me,” has surfaced after years of languish and will be distributed shortly by Alliance Films of Montreal. It’s an independently-funded Canadian story about four filmmakers who went in search of John Hughes, who disappeared from the public eye in 1991. Knowing how fiercely Hughes protected his privacy, it’s doubtful that the docmakers ever got to a chance to speak to Hughes.
“RAY” DIRECTOR TAYLOR HACKFORD, newly elected national DGA president, visited the DGA Chicago office last week as part of his tour to get acquainted with DGA branches around the country.
A COUP FOR IFP. Distinguished L.A. indie producer Effie T. Brown will co-host IFP’s third annual Film Gala Sept. 25 at theWit hotel, starting at 6 p.m.
Among the many indie features Brown has produced, she is probably best known for “Real Women have Curves,” a double Sundance winner, and HBO’s “Stranger Inside,” nominated for three IFP Spirit Awards. Earlier she was Tim Burton’s development director.
