Directors Daniel Kleinman and Ringan Ledwidge are starting a new production company, as yet unnamed. The partnership will also necessitate the closure of London production company Small Family Business, established in 2003 by Ledwidge and producer Sally Humphries. Both directors have had high profiles as of late, with Kleinman's "Noitulove" for Guinness bagging several awards at the BTAAs as well as the Grandy at the recent Andy Awards, and Ledwidge's "Getting Dressed" for Lynx receiving various honors in 2005.

Billed as "the short-form multi-platform content pitching competition" and aimed at aiding nextMEDIA's mandate "to facilitate new digital content creation initiatives and to encourage the rising popularity of short-form multi-platform content", nextPITCH invites independent producers to send in their short-form interactive multi-platform ideas by May 23, 2006. Ten finalists will be given five minutes each to present their pitches in person at the nextMEDIA conference, June 9-11, 2006, taking place at the Fairmont Banff Springs in the Canadian Rockies. $10,000 in funding is up for grabs; $5,000 for first place, $3,000 for second place and $2,000 for third.
http://www.nextmedia2006.com

London-based music and sound design company Wave Recording Studios has sent two intrepid young men out into the world in a camper van with a lot of high-quality recording equipment and a mission: to build the highest-quality sound effects library that the world has ever seen. Following a carefully planned route, Londoners Joss Gardner, 26, and Craig Loftus, 23, will be recording the all of the sounds of a European summer. Wave will soon be offering the resulting sounds, recorded in state-of-the-art 7.1 surround sound, to its clients. The team's progress can be followed via their blog at http://www.projectharvest.blogspot.com . And take note - Wave says requests for particular sounds are welcome.
http://www.wavestudios.co.uk

FilmCore Editorial, with offices in New York, Santa Monica and San Francisco, has announced an exclusive transatlantic partnership with London-based editorial shop The Quarry. FilmCore will provide editorial facilities, production support, sales and marketing to The Quarry's editorial team for projects originating in and/or posting in the US, while the Quarry will provide similar services through its London office for European/UK FilmCore projects.
http://www.filmcore.com

Visual effects and animation house Quiet Man has teamed with BBDO to create "The GE One-Second Theatre", an embedded second of additional material included in GE's "Singing in the Rain" spot. TiVO and other DVR subscribers can view the extra material, including trivia on the commercial's animated characters, by playing the spot frame by frame.
http://www.onesecondtheater.com

New bicoastal editorial house Beast has launched in New York and Santa Monica. Paul Kelly (ex-89, NY) and Adam Schwartz (ex-Lost Planet, NY) are company partners and will head up the New York office, while Igor Kovalik (ex-Inside/Out, Santa Monica) and Paul Norling (formerly with FilmCore, Santa Monica) are partners alongside managing partner/EP Valerie Petrusson (a veteran of Inside/Out, Crew Cuts, FilmCore and Red Car among others) for the West Coast office. Amy Saunders holds down EP duties in NY, and Kevin Garcia, also ex-Inside/Out, completes the roster.

New creative agency Love and War is set to shoot its arrow straight into the heart of New York. The product of a union between former Hornet creative director Eng San Kho and advertising and brand consultant Peter Tashjian, Love and War aims to stay ahead of the new media curve and create integrated campaigns that can encompass all forms of media, both old and new.
http://www.thisisloveandwar.com

Brazilian directors Christiano Metri, Paulo Vainer, Pedro Becker, Ricardo "Gordo" Carvalho and Tadeu Jungle, in partnership with Roberto Schmidt, Marily Raphul, João Pedro de Albuquerque and Antonio Carlos Accioly have joined forces to create a new production company, Margarida Films. Greg Jenkins is the company's executive producer. At the start of next year, Margarida will move into its São Paolo HQ, a "Hollywood-style" production lot with over 12,000 square meters and nine studios.
http://www.margaridafilms.com

Here's a reminder for the wrap parties and screening bashes for LA-based Group 101 Spots, a unique collective comprised of agency professionals, directors, post-production pros, and other members of the commercial-making. The Los Angeles gathering happens Tuesday, May 9 at Santa Monica's Union Editorial, while the New York party is slated for May 17 at Red Car. The parties will celebrate the best work from the latest round of new directors in both cities.
http://www.group101spots.com