BOB BERNEY EXITS APPARITION

By Scott Macaulay

At Deadline New York, Mike Fleming is reporting that Apparition head Bob Berney, a popular figure in the indie community who previously headed distribution arms at IFC, Picturehouse and Newmarket, has resigned.

From Fleming:

In a pre-Cannes bombshell, Bob Berney tendered his resignation from the top post of indie distribution company Apparition to its owner, River Road’s Bill Pohlad. I hear Pohlad was blindsided by the move, especially since Berney and his staff were about to get on planes to travel to Cannes and look for pictures to acquire. Pohlad has abruptly cancelled those plans, and now Apparition won’t be a presence at the festival when it starts on Wednesday.

Fleming also posts at Deadline an email that went out to staff from owner Bill Pohlad:

To our Apparition colleagues and staff:

As some of you may know, Bob Berney has submitted his resignation to me. I suspect that this news comes as a surprise to many of you. It certainly did to me. So I can’t claim that we have a plan in place yet in the wake of this announcement. I can, however, assure you that we will be working in the days ahead to explore our options regarding his replacement. In the meantime, Valerie Bruce, our Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, will serve as interim COO.

I apologize for whatever confusion and uncertainty this news may cause, but know that we are proud and grateful for all the work that you have put into the company and appreciate your continued support.

Bill Pohlad

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FLORIA SIGISMONDI ON “THE RUNAWAYS”

By Scott Macaulay

While at Sundance I sat down with director Floria Sigismondi to discuss her debut feature, The Runaways, starring Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning as Joan Jett and Cherie Curie. I’ve been a fan of Floria’s for years, and with The Runaways she has brought her keen sense of place and design to convincingly recreate the Los Angeles rock scene of the ’70s. We talked about the origins of the movie, her cinematic inspirations (Christianne F.!), and getting the City of Angels right. Thanks to Sabi Picture’s Zak Forsman, Kevin Shah and Jamie Cobb for shooting and editing the piece.

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