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Ethnic cultures as newsmakers

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The AZEK® Company named in 2024 best companies to work for: List by U.S. News & World Report

CHICAGO — (BUSINESS WIRE) — The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE: AZEK) (“AZEK” or the “Company”), the industry-leading manufacturer of beautiful, low-maintenance and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products, including TimberTech® decking and railing, Versatex® and AZEK® Trim, and StruXure™ pergolas, was awarded a place on the U.S. News & World Report inaugural list of best companies to work for in the construction and materials category.

 

“It is an honor to be recognized for our continued focus on prioritizing employee growth and well-being as well as creating a workplace where our employees feel fulfilled, engaged, empowered, and valued,” said Sandra Lamartine, Chief Human Resources Officer at The AZEK Company.

 

“Each one of our team members makes our workplace special and I’m excited for what this means for them and for our future.”

 

The global authority in rankings and consumer advice, U.S. News & World Report ranked AZEK among the 349 best publicly traded companies to work for across 20 industries, considering quality of pay, work-life balance, belongingness and esteem, and opportunities for professional development and advancement by industry.

 

The evaluation of how a company performs on each metric was based on subjective analysis and editorially curated selections of publicly available employee sentiment and other data that demonstrates how a company supports the everyday experience of its workers. The editors compared each company to its peers in one of 20 broad industry groups, awarding “Best” status only to the top 20 percent.

 

The full U.S. News & World Report 2024 list of Best Companies to Work For is currently available here.

 

About The AZEK® Company

The AZEK Company Inc. (NYSE: AZEK) is the industry-leading designer and manufacturer of beautiful, low maintenance and environmentally sustainable outdoor living products, including TimberTech® decking and railing, Versatex® and AZEK Trim® and StruXure™ pergolas. Consistently recognized as a market leader in innovation, quality and aesthetics, products across AZEK’s portfolio are made from up to approximately 90% recycled material and primarily replace wood on the outside of homes, providing a long-lasting, eco-friendly and stylish solution to consumers. Leveraging the talents of its approximately 2,000 employees and the strength of relationships across its value chain, The AZEK Company is committed to accelerating the use of recycled material in the manufacturing of its innovative products, keeping millions of pounds of waste out of landfills each year, and revolutionizing the industry to create a more sustainable future. The AZEK Company has recently been named one of America’s Climate Leaders by USA Today, a Top Workplace by the Chicago Tribune and a winner of the 2023 Real Leaders® Impact Awards. Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the company operates manufacturing and recycling facilities in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Georgia, Nevada, New Jersey, Michigan and Minnesota. For additional information, please visit azekco.com.

Contacts

AZEK Media Contact:
Amanda Cimaglia

312-809-1093

media@azekco.com

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Business Culture Lifestyle Technology

Digibee appoints Nithin Bose as chief customer officer

Following a $60 million series B round and CRO hire, Digibee further expands its C-suite with an industry veteran who will be a critical touch point for Digibee customers, investors and teams


WESTON, Fla. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Digibee, an integration-platform-as-a-service (iPaaS) company that helps organizations build flexible, highly scalable integration architecture with low code, on Thursday announced the appointment of Nithin Bose as chief customer officer.

 

With over 20 years of experience in building and deploying enterprise data products, Bose is a seasoned leader in customer success, sales engineering, professional services and support. He has a proven track record of scaling product and customer success organizations, driving revenue growth and enhancing product-market fit. He will report to CEO Rodrigo Bernardinelli and serve as a member of the leadership team, unifying customer success, customer support, professional services and solution architecture functions under one umbrella to drive optimal outcomes for the company’s global customers.

 

“Following a successful series B funding round, it is critical that Digibee have the right leaders in place to scale the company through the next stage of growth and beyond. Nithin’s passion, dedication, and impressive work in customer success will help advance our leadership position in digital transformation and customer service, experience and success,” said Bernardinelli.

 

“I joined Digibee because I was drawn to the company’s strong platform, passionate customer-focused team and disruptive approach to integration in a fast-growing market. There is a massive opportunity to bring Digibee’s cloud-native, low-code and high-productivity approach to more enterprise integration customers and complex use cases. The timing is right for Digibee’s success as a leading integration platform to be advanced globally,” said Bose.

 

Bose previously served as vice president of product and customer success at Very Good Security, a data security platform which secures the storage and exchange of the world’s payment data while maximizing its utility. There, he was the executive responsible for the post-sale customer journey including adoption, expansion and renewals for hundreds of customers. He improved net retention to more than 130% while growing the overall business by over 500%. He established customer engagement programs driving the Net Promoter Score (NPS) to 60 and built a global team from the ground up to drive sales engineering, customer success, professional services and customer support. He also launched multiple new product offerings to better serve customers and rebuilt product management, product marketing and design functions to drive innovation. He also held customer success leadership roles at Splunk, Deloitte, ServiceSource and other B2B IT product organizations.

 

Bose holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in computer science from the R.V. College of Engineering, Bangalore, India, and a Master of Science degree in computer engineering from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

About Digibee

The Digibee integration platform allows enterprises to compete and excel in today’s rapidly changing digital environment. The technology is cloud native, low code, fully recyclable and discoverable — connecting applications, processes and people for faster time to market without a major investment. Digibee is the preferred iPaaS solution for 250-plus corporate customers including Assai, B3, Barkley, Bauducco, GoPro, Oobe, Payless, and others. For more information visit Digibee.com.

Contacts

Sara Black

Bospar

prfordigibee@bospar.com

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Business Culture Economics Healthcare Lifestyle Technology

Organon to report third quarter results and host conference call on Nov. 2, 2023

JERSEY CITY, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Organon (NYSE: OGN), a global healthcare company with a focus on women’s health, will release its third quarter 2023 financial results on Nov. 2, 2023, prior to the company’s webcast and conference call scheduled for 8:30 a.m. EST.

 

Interested parties may access the live call via webcast on the Organon website at https://www.organon.com/investor-relations/events-and-presentations/. A replay of the webcast will be available approximately two hours after the conclusion of the live event on the company’s website.

Institutional investors and analysts interested in participating in the call must register in advance by clicking on this link: https://conferencingportals.com/event/VfCOQYEG.

 

Following registration, participants will receive a confirmation email containing details on how to join the conference call, including dial-in information and a unique passcode and registrant ID. Pre-registration will allow participants to bypass an operator and be placed directly into the call.

 

About Organon

Organon is a global healthcare company formed to focus on improving the health of women throughout their lives. Organon offers more than 60 medicines and products in women’s health in addition to a growing biosimilars business and a large franchise of established medicines across a range of therapeutic areas. Organon’s existing products produce strong cash flows that support investments in innovation and future growth opportunities in women’s health and biosimilars. In addition, Organon is pursuing opportunities to collaborate with biopharmaceutical innovators looking to commercialize their products by leveraging its scale and presence in fast growing international markets.

 

Organon has a global footprint with significant scale and geographic reach, world-class commercial capabilities, and approximately 10,000 employees with headquarters located in Jersey City, New Jersey.

 

For more information, visit http://www.organon.com and connect with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Contacts

Organon Media:

Karissa Peer

(614) 314-8094

Kate Vossen

(732) 675-8448

Organon Investor:

Jennifer Halchak

(201) 275-2711

Alex Arzeno

(203) 550-3972

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Amerigroup’s New Jersey Health Plan to be renamed Wellpoint in January 2024

  • No impact or changes to members’ health plan benefits, services, and care provider network as a result of the new name
  • New name reflects the company’s continued evolution to deliver whole health
  • Wellpoint is focused on improving the health of individuals and communities at all points of life

 

 

ISELIN, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amerigroup New Jersey, Inc., a subsidiary of Elevance Health serving NJ FamilyCare/ Medicaid and Medicare enrollees, will begin rebranding as Wellpoint in January 2024 to reflect the company’s evolution to support whole health.

 

There will be no impact or changes to Wellpoint members’ healthcare benefits or coverage. Members will continue to have access to their established primary care providers, specialists, hospitals, and other healthcare facilities. Also, healthcare providers who serve Wellpoint members will have continued access to tools and resources to help streamline day-to-day administrative tasks.

 

“This rebranding is a continuation of our bold and ambitious purpose to improve the health of humanity by serving people across their entire health journey; connecting them to care, support and resources; and simplifying healthcare to make health more equitable and accessible,” said Patrick Fox, MD, president of Amerigroup New Jersey. “Our local presence enables us to design our benefits and programs to fit the unique needs of New Jersey communities. Wellpoint is a name that illustrates our dedication to being a lifetime, trusted health partner with a mission to help people live well across all life points.”

 

Wellpoint’s suite of health benefits is designed for consumers at any stage of life offering access to simple, supportive health solutions to help foster whole health. In addition, Wellpoint plans are committed to helping individuals improve their health through Healthy Reward incentives for wellness visits and added benefits such as gift cards for completing health screenings, newborn supplies for new mothers, and resources to support emotional well-being.

 

Subject to state regulator approval, new ID cards with the Wellpoint brand will be mailed in early 2024. Members can continue using their current card to access all existing services until they receive their new card. New Jersey members who have questions can contact Member Services via the phone number on the back of their ID card.

 

For member and provider information and updates, please visit www.wellpoint.com.

 

About Wellpoint

Wellpoint, part of the Elevance Health family of brands, focuses on improving physical health as well as the behavioral and social drivers that impact it through a comprehensive suite of Medicare, Medicaid, and Commercial products. The Wellpoint companies offer healthcare services for consumers at any stage of life seeking to make the right care decisions and helps individuals and communities make real, positive progress with health plans that foster independence, confidence, and whole-person health. For more information, please visit www.wellpoint.com.

Contacts

Stephanie DuBois

(603) 722-3087

stephanie.dubois@anthem.com

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Business Culture Economics Lifestyle Regulations & Security

AM Best revises Issuer Credit Rating outlook to positive for Guardian Insurance Company, Inc.

OLDWICK, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #insurance — AM Best has revised the outlook to positive from stable for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) and the Long-Term ICR of “bbb” (Good) of Guardian Insurance Company, Inc. (Guardian) (St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands). The outlook of the FSR is stable.

 

The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect Guardian’s balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as strong, as well as its marginal operating performance, neutral business profile and appropriate enterprise risk management.

 

The positive Long-Term ICR outlook reflects the improvement in Guardian’s operating performance over the past three years, with that trend continuing into 2023. Since 2020, the company has reported favorable net underwriting income, positive pre-tax operating income, and overall net income of over $6.5 million. These results are due primarily to improved underwriting performance, steady net investment income and, to a lesser extent, other income. As a result, the company’s five-year average pre-tax and total returns on revenue and equity compare favorably with the composite.

 

Guardian’s balance sheet strength metrics also have improved as additions to policyholder surplus have been reported for three consecutive years and through June 30, 2023. In recent years, surplus growth has outpaced premium expansion resulting in lower underwriting leverage ratios. Despite this improvement, net and gross underwriting leverage ratios compare unfavorably with the composite. Also, overall surplus growth and overall risk-adjusted capitalization are dampened by periodic dividends paid to its ultimate parent, Lockhart Companies, Inc.

 

Guardian writes about two-thirds of its business in the U.S. Virgin Islands and the other one-third in Puerto Rico. Despite this geographic and product concentration, the company maintains a neutral business profile due to its market leader position in the U.S. Virgin Islands, with over 60% of the automobile market. In addition, Guardian is the largest domestic insurer, and it controls 73% of its gross written premium through its own agency.

 

This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best’s website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best’s Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best’s Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best’s Credit Ratings, Best’s Performance Assessments, Best’s Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best’s Ratings & Assessments.

 

AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.

 

Copyright © 2023 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Contacts

Kevin Dorsey
Senior Financial Analyst
+1 908 882 1747
kevin.dorsey@ambest.com

Christopher Sharkey
Associate Director, Public Relations
+1 908 882 2310
christopher.sharkey@ambest.com

Joseph Burtone
Director
+1 908 882 1678
joseph.burtone@ambest.com

Al Slavin
Senior Public Relations Specialist
+1 908 882 2318
al.slavin@ambest.com

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Art & Life Culture Lifestyle

‘Fast Charlie’ review: Pierce Brosnan makes a debonair hitman in Phillip Noyce’s charming minor underworld caper

Brosnan’s quality of elegant inner toughness carries you through a small but winning genre film.

 

One sign of a terrific actor is that he can hold you even when he’s not doing anything. Pierce Brosnan is like that. I wouldn’t call him a minimalist, though he never wastes a word or a movement; he has the precision of an expensive watch. Yet as he’s gotten older (he’s now 70, with silver hair), his inner quality of elegant puckish cutthroat gravitas has only grown stronger. You’re hooked by him when he’s not doing anything in part because he projects the unwavering confidence that you will be.

 

That makes him the ideal actor to play a seen-it-all hit man — who also happens to be a highly civilized gourmet cook — in Phillip Noyce’s “Fast Charlie,” a Deep South crime drama that may be the twelfth movie this year to center on a hit man. But the new hit-man movies, like David Fincher’s “The Killer” and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” aren’t conventional thrillers. They’re character studies with existential underpinnings (which brings them full circle back to the first and still greatest example of the form, “The Day of the Jackal).”

 

“Fast Charlie” is a modest genre movie, and that’s what’s good about it. The veteran director Phillip Noyce brings it in at 90 minutes (a rare feat these days), and he stages it as a neatly unfolding tick-tock journey, so that each plot swivel arrives in time to take you somewhere.

 

And Brosnan keeps the film grounded, always convincing you there’s something at stake. He plays Charlie Swift, who has spent 32 years working for Stan (played by the late James Caan in his final role), a now-ancient mobster who is also his friend. Charlie lives in an unassuming residential neighborhood of Biloxi, Miss., in a home that’s tastefully furnished with antiques. He’s a Marine veteran who likes to unwind by making Italian food (he was stationed in Italy), and he’s the key member of Stan’s ball-busting crew.

 

Brosnan speaks with an accent that’s a fusion of his own silvery brogue and a gruff drawl. It’s not an accent that’s going to win any awards for authenticity, yet it’s sonorous and expressive; it works. It makes Charlie, in his way, an original character — a gentleman shitkicker. Adapted from Victor Gischler’s novel “Gun Monkeys” (the script is by Richard Wenk), “Fast Charlie” is about what happens when Charlie’s rather comfortable life as a Mob killer and fixer gets torn apart overnight. A rival gangster, Beggar Mercado (Gbenda Akinnagbe), compromised by one of Sam’s goons, decides to whack Sam and his entire squad, and he just about succeeds; he’s got the men and the muscle. But it’s Charlie, under his debonair surface, who’s got the ice-pick attitude, along with the will to survive.

 

Charlie is a bit like the James Caan character in “Thief,” with a dream that sustains him: He wants to buy a fixer-upper in Tuscany and retire there. What’s stopping him? He doesn’t want to do it alone. Enter Marcie Kramer (Morena Baccarin), the ex-wife of the loser who tried to rat Beggar out. (He got what was coming to him.) She has tried to stay above the fray (literally, in an isolated house on stilts), and when Charlie seeks her out, the best thing about their connection is what a casual slow burn it is. Baccarin, who’s from Rio de Janeiro, has a dreamy-eyed perkiness that syncs up with Brosnan’s reticent valor. When the two head to New Orleans to find the evidence Marcie’s ex was hiding, they say a lot without saying all that much.

 

Noyce, the director of such disparate movies as “Dead Calm,” “Salt,” and “Above Suspicion,” has always been a fastidious filmmaker, and in an age of made-for-streaming action comedy that seems to spill over the sides of its own wretched excess, you’re grateful for his old-school craftsmanship, which now looks like rigor. In “Fast Charlie,” he streamlines the action without hyping it, makes poetic use of helicopter establishing shots, and stages a scene worthy of the first “Bourne” film in which Charlie hides out from an assassin in a hotel laundry chute, squeezing against its sides to keep from sliding down, a task that becomes appreciably more difficult when the assassin, a relentless ogre known as the Freak (Christopher Matthew Cook), fires his gun up the chute and hits Charlie in the thigh.

 

The skill of that scene, like much of the rest of the film, is all in the timing. There is skill, as well, in the quirks and the details, like Charlie and Stan arguing over whether Charlie put cilantro in the chicken, or the “Semper Fi” that unites Charlie and the club bouncer (David Chattam) who shows up to help him at just the right moment, or the fact that Marcie is an aspiring (and ardent) taxidermist. “Fast Charlie” is minor, but Noyce, to the end, knows just what he’s doing. That used to seem like less of a novelty.

 

 

— Variety

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Business Culture Lifestyle Technology

NICE named a leader in Everest Group’s Task Mining Products PEAK Matrix

NICE NEVA Discover scored high on both ‘Vision and Capability’ as well as the ‘Market Impact’ axis in leading analyst’s Task Mining Products Assessment

 

HOBOKEN, N.J. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — #NICE—NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) today announced that NEVA Discover, its process analytics and task mining offering, has been recognized as a ‘Leader’ in Everest Group’s Task Mining Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2023 out of 19 task mining providers evaluated.

 

NEVA Discover utilizes its rich desktop data collection and desktop analytics to pinpoint areas for employee improvement and optimize performance. Leaders were recognized for strong growth momentum in the task mining market and the ability to continue to differentiate by offering innovative features.

Click here for a complimentary copy of the report.

 

NEVA Discover offers a scientific approach to scaling task mining capabilities, allowing CX organizations to take employees’ performances to a new level and ground business decisions on rich processes and interaction data. Utilizing NEVA Discover’s desktop analytics, organizations can drive employee performance improvements by developing and engaging employees with proactive, personalized coaching using actionable data. The report noted that NEVA Discover “helps users to discover best practices by combining the captured data with additional metrics, such as interaction data, employee data, and interaction outcomes, leveraging the power of the CXone Platform.” The report also noted that clients appreciated NEVA Discover’s ease of use as well as key areas of strength including the power of its task discovery and handling capabilities as well as quick adaptation to the product.

 

“NICE has reinforced its position as a Leader on Everest Group’s Task Mining Products PEAK Matrix® 2023, underpinned by its strong vision, depth and breadth of product functionalities, focus on product support, and integration with its automation capabilities,” said Amardeep Modi, Vice President at Everest Group. “Discovery capabilities, ease of maintenance, and data security are some of the key strengths indicated by its clients.”

 

Barry Cooper, President, CX Division, NICE, said, “We are pleased to be recognized as a Leader in this assessment, demonstrating NICE’s excellence in Task Mining. As CX organizations continue to struggle with employee retention, NICE’s NEVA Discover enables organizations to provide objective, targeted coaching to empower employees and make them even more effective. With our ongoing investments in Enlighten AI, NICE will continue its momentum as a market leader in Task Mining.”

 

This recognition adds to NICE’s past accomplishments in this space. NICE was recognized as a ‘Leader’ in Everest Group’s Task Mining Products PEAK Matrix® Assessment 2022. NICE was also named a ‘Leader’ in Everest Group’s Robotic Process Automation (RPA) PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022.

 

About NICE

With NICE (Nasdaq: NICE), it’s never been easier for organizations of all sizes around the globe to create extraordinary customer experiences while meeting key business metrics. Featuring the world’s #1 cloud native customer experience platform, CXone, NICE is a worldwide leader in AI-powered self-service and agent-assisted CX software for the contact center – and beyond. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, partner with NICE to transform – and elevate – every customer interaction. www.nice.com

 

Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICE’s marks, please see: www.nice.com/nice-trademarks.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Cooper, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the “Company”). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as “believe,” “expect,” “seek,” “may,” “will,” “intend,” “should,” “project,” “anticipate,” “plan,” “estimate,” or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; competition; successful execution of the Company’s growth strategy; success and growth of the Company’s cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company’s products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Company’s dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners;, cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company’s reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law.

Contacts

Corporate Media Contact
Christopher Irwin-Dudek, +1 201 561 4442, ET

media@nice.com
Investors
Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ET

ir@nice.com

Omri Arens, +972 3 763 0127, CET

ir@nice.com

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Darren Aronofsky’s Sphere movie credits all 2,000 crew members on screen at once

Darren Aronofsky’s Sphere film, “Postcard From Earth,” is responsible for establishing all kinds of historic cinematic firsts — like the fact that it is the only movie ever to be released in 18K resolution on a screen that spans 160,000 square feet.

A portion of the credits for Darren Aronofsky’s film ‘Postcard From Earth,’ now playing at Sphere in Las Vegas Variety

 

But movie buffs will particularly enjoy one first that doesn’t fully reveal itself until the very last 90 seconds or so of the 50-minute running time, in the massive Las Vegas dome where the film just premiered.

 

The end credits begin appearing in the middle of the screen, as one would expect — or at least in what counts as the middle, if your field of vision is trained forward and not skyward. And then the credits expand out from there, bit by bit, until a substantial portion of the LED screen is filled by the entire list of names of people who worked on “Postcard From Earth,” all at once.

 

And yes, in 18K resolution, all of those thousands of names are completely legible, as tiny as they might seem in the overall scheme — or Sphere — of things.

 

Aronofsky smiles slightly as he tells Variety about the unusual, not-soon-to-be-repeated gambit:

 

“They were like, ‘You want to do a roll or something?’ I was like, ‘You know, actually, it might be just kind of interesting to stick everyone’s name up there.’ And I think it’s 2,000 names.

 

“The nice thing about that,” he adds, “is we’re able to get the credits done in about 90 seconds, which is great, too.”

 

Mind-blowing shots of purple mountain majesties are one thing. But a single-screen testimonial to the thousands of villagers it takes to build a film, on a screen roughly 35 stories high? For film-biz workers, that may be the ultimate trip.

 

“Postcard From Earth” is currently playing at the newly opened Vegas venue as the anchor of The Sphere Experience, on days when U2 does not have a performance booked in the dome in the evening.

 

Read the rest of Variety‘s Q&A with Aronofsky about the making of the film here: “Darren Aronofsky on His Sphere Film, ‘Postcard From Earth’: ‘I Had No Idea What an 18K Image Would Look Like, Four Football Fields Large.’“

 

 

— Variety

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Art & Life Business Culture Lifestyle

Academy’s Tom Oyer, senior vice president of member relations and awards, exits organization after 16 years

Tom Oyer, senior vice president of member relations and awards at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, is exiting his post after 16 years, Variety has exclusively learned.

 

On Friday, Oyer shared the news of his departure in a letter sent to colleagues and industry professionals. A beloved figure by Academy members and staffers, Oyer has made vital and notable contributions during his tenure, including his involvement with diversity initiative Aperture 2020, modernizing the voting process for awards and the digital Academy Screening Room. His other footprints are seen in fundamental rules and changes within the various branches, particularly in the Documentary Branch. In 2012, he was crucial in implementing the seven-day theatrical requirement for docs and expanding the preliminary voting to the entire branch membership. Before that, only a small number of volunteers would vote.

 

“Tom has been an integral and valuable member of this team for many years,” the Academy shares in a statement to Variety. “While we are sad to see him go, his work lives on with numerous initiatives and efforts to make the Academy the best it can be. We wish him nothing but the best going forward.”

 

Beginning his career in the mailroom in 2007, Oyer held several positions at the Academy, including theater operations, awards coordinator, associate director, senior director and his most recent promotion in June 2021. An expert on everything nonfiction, he served as the go-to person for studios and industry professionals for everything documentary-related regarding rules, qualifications and submissions. He also oversaw administration for the live-action short, producers, animated short and makeup and hairstyling.

 

Academy executives and other department team members have absorbed Oyer’s responsibilities, which have resulted in multiple promotions and leadership opportunities within the organization. Those individuals are Angelica Cervantes (senior director, member and industry relations), Natalie Wade (senior director, member relations and awards administration), Josh Nallathambi (associate director, member and industry relations) and Michael Benedict (associate director, member relations and awards administration).

 

The Academy also states: “We are also thrilled to be able to promote four incredible executives who are part of the future of this organization who will take us to new levels in servicing our members and our industry.”

 

The road to the upcoming 96th Oscars ceremony in March is expected to feature some of the year’s biggest movies, such as Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

 

 

— Variety (EXCLUSIVE)

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Art & Life Culture Lifestyle Sports & Gaming Travel & Leisure

Adam Driver recalls ‘terrifying’ experience driving old school race car for ‘Ferrari:’ ‘If you turn the wrong way, you’re dead’

Although Adam Driver portrays legendary sports-car magnate Enzo Ferrari in Michael Mann’s biographical drama, the actor didn’t get to drive one of the 1950s-era replicas for “Ferrari.”

 

Instead, he drove an “open-wheel single seater” that was modified to connect a camera to it. Asked how it was getting behind the wheel of that particular vintage sports car, Driver simply replied, “Terrifying.”

 

“It teleports you back to the time and you realize if you turn left or right the wrong way, then you’re dead,” Driver told Variety at the “Ferrari” North American premiere at the New York Film Festival Friday night. “There’s at least seatbelts in the newer cars.”

Driver described the single seater as a “moving coffin” at a New York Film Festival press conference earlier on Friday.

 

The driving occurred at “an abandoned airstrip in Modena, Italy,” he recalled. “And you can really feel how dangerous they are obviously, versus a contemporary Ferrari. The goal was to get thrown from the car because that was considered more safe than to be locked in this moving coffin.”

 

Mann then clarified Driver’s description, saying, “The idea was you’d rather be thrown from the car than dragged by the car, so that’s why they didn’t wear seatbelts.”

 

To prepare the team for the racing sequences in “Ferrari,” Mann had several actors, including Driver, test drive contemporary Ferraris in pre-production.

 

“I wanted everybody to have an experience of driving these cars on a racetrack,” Mann told the audience at the morning press conference, calling it “racecar driving 101.”

 

“Ferrari” follows the life of automotive mogul Enzo in 1957 as his company prepares to enter the Mille Miglia, a 1000-mile, open-road motorsport race. Penelope Cruz, Shailene Woodley, Gabriel Leone and Sarah Gadon attended the NYFF premiere alongside “Ferrari” director Mann and co-star Driver.

 

Mann estimates there were at least 14 or 15 cars involved in the 1957 Mille Miglia race sequence.

 

“And then the main Ferraris and Maseratis, which we recreated exactly to scale, we were able to 3D scan real [50s-era models], which are insanely valuable,” Mann continued.

 

“Our cars could go 140-150 miles an hour, and do so safely.”

 

Mann, who has known Enzo’s son Piero Ferrari for about 25 years, recalled some of the conversations he had with the Ferrari vice chairman in preparation for the biopic.

 

“There were all kinds of conversations. What was his mother like? Did his mother cook?” Mann told Variety.

 

“That house in the countryside was the only place in which Enzo was in repose, in which he relaxed and became informal. He was never casual or informal anywhere else. His father never made coffee, he never shaved himself his entire life — he always went to the barber shop, and the barber shop we shoot is run by the son of Enzo’s barber. Nothing’s changed.”

 

“Ferrari” premieres in theaters Dec. 25.

 

 

 

— Variety