THE SUPER SECRETIVE WACHOWSKIS may be ramping up their next movie, with Huffington Post publisher and politico Ariana Huffington, of all people, involved in it. Photos she posted on Twitter suggest she has a role in their story about the war in Iraq from the POV of a futuristic society.
Since their “The Matrix” triology in 2003, Andy and Lana Wachowski have directed only one movie, last year’s “Speed Racer.” If a new movie is in the works, count on all the special effects coming from their fortress-like high-tech studio at 5645 N. Ravenswood.
JERRY SPRINGER may have uprooted his syndicated talk show and relocated to Stamford, Conn. last summer, reports Robert Feder in his informative new blog. Vocalo.org, but he’s still on the move in Chicago: His local outlet will switch this fall from Fox-owned Ch. 50 to Weigel Broadcasting’s Ch. 26.
Weigel will have its own Web camera installed at NBC Universal’s facilities in Stamford. “He’ll be coming back in town for sales calls and pie fights,” said Ch. 16 station executive Neal Sabin.
A THIRD PHANTOM HD GOLD CAMERA was purchased by Fletcher Camera from Abel Cine Tech. “The camera was originally designed for industrial and industry use,” notes Tom Fletcher. “It is of such great quality that the motion picture industry has adopted it. Tabletop shooters say it’s ideal for their needs.”
DON’T WORRY, faithful fans of Boston Blackie’s Bar & Grill at 164 E. Grand, those beloved $7.49 cheeseburgers will continue to be served, despite the restaurant chain’s surprise filing Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. The company, which has eight Chicago area locations, listed debts of $6.4 million against assets of about $17,000.
THIRTEEN IS A LUCKY NUMBER for Tim Frick’s Mightbytes design media company. Its animation demo reel won the Davey Award from the International Academy of the Visual Arts, whose focus is on “creative excellence of smaller agencies and companies worldwide” and this year attracted more than 4,000 international entries.
The Davey Award also marks the fourth win this year also for the demo reel
A 10TH ANNIVERSARY for audio engineer Brian Reed’s BAM! Studios. Since opening on Dec. 1, 1999, Reed estimates that he has worked on an 30,000 projects — mostly broadcast commercials, but also many docs, corporate and interactive.
Reed opened BAM! Studios with one assistant a month after the closing of Skyview post, where he had worked for several years.
Current staffers are engineers Dave Leffel, associate engineers Philip von During and Matt Sauro, and studio manager Johnathon Karcz. They occupy a 5,000-sq. ft. studio at 1 E. Erie.
Claims to fame: BAM is the go-to ADR studio to record talent in the Midwest for the likes of Pixar and Disney. In fact, Joan Cusack recently recorded ADR there for Sony’s new playstation game, “Toy Story 3.”
The BAM Dream Server is a revolutionary search engine for 20 terrabytes of music and sound effects.
REEL MICHIGAN: The Michigan Film Office says 47 film projects have been filmed in the state in 2009, representing a total expenditure of $216 million. Overall, 82 projects — features, docs, TV pilots and reality shows — were filmed throughout Michigan since April 2008.
Over in West Michigan, the fourth movie this year for 10 West studios in Manistee is Pureflix Entertainment’s “Jerusalem Countdown,” with country music star Randy Travis, actors Carey Scott and Jaci Velasquez. The film is based on a book by the same name, written by John Hagee.
