NEWS: Symphony 19 Signs Director David Altobelli

Production company Symphony 19 has announced the signing of director David Altobelli to its roster. Altobelli's credits include:

• Hammock "Mono No Aware"
• M83 "We Own The Sky"

Altobelli is repped by Tommy LaBuda of LaBuda Management.

NEWS: Robot Films Signs Benny Boom

Chris Robinson's Robot Films has announced the signing of BET's 2009 Director of the Year Benny Boom to its roster. His music video credits include:

• Akon f/ Eminem "Smack That"
• Pussycat Dolls "Beep"
• Keyshia Cole "You Complete Me"
• Nas "Made You Look"

Robin Frank Management (RFM) is also now representing the director...

NEWS: Walter Robot Wins LA Film Fest For DCFC Vid

Merge @ Crossroads directing/creative team Walter Robot is now officialyl award-winning. The Walter Robot clip for Death Cab For Cutie "Grapevine Fires" snagged the Audience Award for Best Music Video at the 2009 LA Film Festival. Video is embedded below. And that's Walter Robot principal Christopher Louie (right) in the photo swapping conspiracy theories with actor Jon Voight at the awards ceremony.

NEWS: BET Awards 2009 Winners

The 2009 BET Awards took on added resonance due to the sudden death of Michael Jackson just days before the ceremony. Members of the Jackson family were in attendance — sister Janet gave a speech to thank fans for the outpourings of support, and father Joe was seated front and center — while MJ was also the subject of several musical tributes.

Music video winners at the 2009 BET Awards as follows:

• Video of the Year: Beyonce "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" — Jake Nava, director
• Video Director of the Year: Benny Boom

Full list of winners at BET.com...

NEWS: BET Awards This Weekend

The annual BET Awards air live this Sunday @ 8/7c. Jamie Foxx is hosting. Performers include Beyonce, Ne-Yo, Maxwell, Soulja Boy and many more.

In light of the sudden passing of Michael Jackson, you can expect some tributes to massive star.

Via the AP/Yahoo News:

An executive producer for the Black Entertainment TV Awards says Sunday night's live broadcast from Los Angeles will honor Michael Jackson.

Producer Stephen Hill says the show will be dedicated to Jackson because of his influence on music and pop culture. Jackson died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center after being stricken at his Los Angeles home.
Hill says many of the celebrities who will appear on the show contacted BET to see how they could help prepare a tribute to Jackson.

Says Hill: "I think what you're going to find is that acceptance speeches for awards will have nothing to do about the artists themselves, but about the influence that Michael Jackson had on them."

Michael Jackson, 1958 - 2009

Michael Jackson passed away today, Thursday June 25 after suffering cardiac arrest. He was 50 years old.

MTV is currently showing a marathon of MJ videos. A fitting tribute to a man who was inarguably the biggest music video star of all time. .

Watch em here. And a nice article from USA Today.

NEWS: LaBuda Repping The Brothers Strause

Tommy LaBuda of LaBuda Management is now representing directing team The Brothers Strause for music videos. They remain signed to their own Hydraulx Filmz.

Select music video credits include:

• 50 Cent "Get Up"
• Usher "Love In This Club"
• Linkin Park "Crawling"
• Nickelback "How You Remind Me"

NEWS: Prod Co Hello & Co Launches

Say hello (pardon the pun) to new Los Angeles production company Hello & Co, specializing in music video, commercial, integrated media and live concert/3D content. The company is a new endeavor that, on the music video side, combines longstanding production company HKM Productions with former Anonymous Content executive producer Sheira Rees-Davies and former HSI rep Jamie Kohn.

The Hello & Co directing roster includes: PR Brown, Evan Bernard, Syndrome, Nick Wickham, Asa Mader, UV Phactory, Aaron Platt and Kai Regan. [note: PR Brown is repped by Molly Bohas/Collide; Symdrome is repped by Robin Frank management].

Hello & Co is also exclusively repping the Academy roster for music videos in the US. Academy @ Hello directors include: Jonathan Glazer, Martin De Thurah, Walter Stern, Lynne Ramsay, Si & Ad, Corin Hardy, Nick Gordon, Kim Gehrig, Tom Haines and The Brothers Quay.

Visit helloandcompany.com for credits, clips, contact info and more.

NEWS: Kelly Norris Sarno Starts Symphony19

Executive producer Kelly Norris Sarno has exited Revolver Film Company to start-up the new production/development company Symphony19. All directors are repped in the U.S. by Labuda Management.

The Symphony19 roster includes Floria Sigismondi, Noble Jones, Roboshobo, Andrew MacNaughtan, Suzie Vlcek, Adam Rothlein, Morgan Lawley and Chris Marrs Piliero.

Visit Symphony19.com for more info on all directors... See below for key credits for each director.

Floria Sigismondi, director

• The White Stripes "Blue Orchid"
• Sigur Ros "Untitled 1"

Noble Jones, director

• Mitchel Musso "Hey"
• The Goo Goo Dolls "Better Days"

Robert Schober (aka Roboshobo), director

• Metallica "All Nightmare Long"
• Mastodon "Divinations"

Andrew MacNaughtan, director

• Michael Buble "Lost"
• Celine Dion "You And I"

Suzie Vlcek, director

• Silversun Pickups "Lazy Eye"
• Tegan & Sara "The Con"

Adam Rothlein, director

• My Chemical Romance "The Black Parade Is Dead!" DVD
• Luna Halo "Kings and Queens" 

Morgan Lawley, director

• Charlie Sexton "Everyone Will Crawl"
• Digable Planets "Rebirth of Slick"

Chris Marrs Piliero, director

• The Pretenders "Boots of Chinese Plastic"
• Eric Hutchinson "OK, It's Alright With Me"

BET Alert: 2009 BET Award Nominees

Nominees have been announced for the 2009 BET Awards, slated for a live telecast on June 20 with host Jamie Foxx.

The main video categories board the following nods...

Video of the Year

• Beyonce "If I Were A Boy" — Jake Nava, director
• Beyonce "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" — Jake Nava, directpr
• Jamie Foxx ft/ T-Pain "Blame It" — Hype Williams, director
• T.I. ft/ Rihanna "Live Your Life" — Anthony Mandler, director
• Kanye West "Heartless" — Hype Williams, director

Video Director of the Year

• Benny Boom
• Rik Cordero
• Gil Green
• Chris Robinson
• Hype Williams

Visit the BET Awards site for a list of nominees and video links.