While local spot production may be at the bottom of the scale, documentary production for cable can be viewed as a growth industry with the explosion of cable outlets and its vo...

GRANT/JACOBY CLOSES. Mid-size, independent Grant/Jacoby has ridden into the sunset after 62 years on Michigan Ave. The agency employed 25. Inability to lasso new business was it...

NATHYN MASTERS' debut feature, the apocalyptic thriller "The Fourth Beast" about a former army ranger taking on the forces of the Antichrist, was released on DVD Feb. 15 by York...

Ben Berkowitz and Ben Redgrave are fresh from a Sundance Film Festival that saw them make strides on their diverse feature projects. At Sundance they attended the launch par...

The contentious National Hockey League lockout has put a lock on possible sales of a nostalgic doc to broadcast outlets, but the 80-minute "Hockey's Greatest Era" available on D...

It's been a long, rocky trek for writer/director Bob Shallcross and producer David James from a lone test in a Grand Rapids' movie house to major market theatres for their prize...

A New York institution that has long brought together the advertising and indie worlds will make its Chicago debut Aprill 7 when Chicago spot producer Elise Kleinman puts on the...

Brothers Joe and Harry Gantz, of HBO's "Taxicab Confessions" will shoot a reality show pilot here in mid-March they aim will lead to a Showtime series starting this spring. "...

Roger Ebert and six other Chicago TV veterans will be inducted into the Silver Circle of the Chicago/Midwest cheaper of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Eb...

took the spotlight MasterCard Superbowl spot for McCann-Erickson/New York that will continue to air, it was that highly acclaimed. Calabash Productions animated nine of 10 i...

NEW LOBBYING FIRM FOR IPA. The Illinois Production Alliance has hired The Illinois Governmental Consulting Group to convince the Illinois legislature to extend the wage tax cre...

A FIRST FILM by screenwriter/journalist Ytasha Womack, the feature-length "Love Shorts" screens Feb. 15 in the Patchwerx Film & Video Series. Womack co-produced with Jumaane N'N...

After 20 years in business as one of the nation's most successful spot animation houses, owners Monica and Ed Newman have sold Calabash on a five-year buyout to two long-term em...

GLANT COHEN, Leo Burnett's SVP/associate director of TV production, retired from the agency after "23 spectacular years" at the agency. He joined Burnett in 1981 to work on McDo...

Fresh off receiving a major grant for his in-progress feature documentary "Nice Bombs," Usama Alshaibi is releasing a DVD compilation of his short works Feb. 12 and preparing fo...

You're an early-stage company with a great idea for a new business but lack financing? The Illinois Venture Capital Association's all-day Midwest Venture Summit 2005 is the plac...

Independent production company Shattering Paradigms Entertainment (SPE) is moving into high gear with two Hi-Def features and an animated TV pilot slated for production th...

Internationally recognized experimental filmmaker Bruce Wood returns to filmmaking after a 25-year hiatus with his debut feature "The Door," shooting Feb. 22-March 22 in C...

Composer Paul Libman, a multiple award-winner for his thousands of commercial jingles and industrial film scores, has found glory in another arena. The 35-year veteran of th...

After looking at the numbers and the expense of renting HD equipment for their "Sound Stage" series, HD Ready partners Joe Thomas and Jim Wolande decided that owning their own H...