•RENCK, MURRO AND GONDRY TO HIT SUNDANCE> Spot directors are all over the 2008 Sundance Film Festival once again, with several screening shorts both on Park City, Utah's movie screens and the festival's web site - for free.

In the feature category, RSA spot and video director Johan Renck's debut film Downloading Nancy, starring Maria Bello, will screen in dramatic competition, while Biscuit co-founder Noam Murro's first feature Smart People, Michel Gondry's Be Kind, Rewind and Boaz Yakin's Death in Love, co-produced by Partizan video helmer Alma Ha'rel, are also screening.

Keep an eye out for shorts by Smuggler's Randy Krallman, Bob Industries' Spencer Susser, The Directors Bureau's Nash Edgerton, Curious Pictures' Osbert Parker, Soft Citizen's Sara St. Onge and The Ebeling Group's MK12. Some of their films will be screening online via the festival's website.
http://festival.sundance.org/2007/

•CLIOS NAME JURY CHAIRS, CALL FOR ENTRIES> The Clio Awards has put out the call for entries and set the deadline for January 15. This year's executive jury chairs are Anomaly partner Johnny Vulkan (Content & Contact), future Y&R worldwide CD Tony Granger (TV/Cinema/Digital) and DDB UK ECD Jeremy Craigen (Print/Poster/Innovative/Integrated).
http://www.clioawards.com

•EFFIES ANNOUNCE ECO-CATEGORY> The Effie Awards, the award show honoring all things effective, has launched a new green category to reward the best eco-marketing efforts. The Green Effies call for entries begins January 3 and the deadline is February 15. Any idea with an eco-centric issue at its core is eligible to enter.
http://www.effie.org

•RADAR WINNERS TO BE ANNOUNCED IN JANUARY> Now that voting for the 2nd annual Radar Music Video Awards is winding down online, organizers have announced the winners will be announced at an event at the ICA in London on January 12. So far, the highest rated finalists in the online voting are entries for Kylie Minogue, Just Jack and The Heavy. Winners and finalists will receive commissions and mentoring from top MV prodcos. To vote, go here.
http://www.radarfestival.com

•MERRY MUSIC VIDEO MADNESS> Apparently, the music video has died, brutally crushed under the rubble of the music industry collapse. Despite the frequent eulogizing, we at Boards constantly receive vids from directors and producers around the world; some of which we post online, some of which we...don't. The past week has been particularly prolific one for videos, so to send you off into 2008, we present this quickie guide to three recent hits.

First up is Kid Sister, a Chicago MC who has just paid tribute to all things esthetic with a little help from the always-camera ready Kanye West . Directed by Sandwick's Ruben Fleischer, "Pro Nails" apparently cost a mere $2,500 to make and is inspired by YouTube finger-dancing videos. Though low on production values, it's high on energy, proving that good performances are priceless.

Partizan's Saam Farahmand rounded out '07 by shooting videos for three respective buzz bands: Lightspeed Champion, Hercules and Love Affair and These New Puritans. The latter is a group of boyish post-punk purveyors signed to Domino Records. For "Elvis", Saam taps into the menacing bassline, injecting a series of extreme close-ups of the emaciated band members with some subtle and not-so-subtle skin crawling effects. A simple concept with a striking visual pay off.

Finally, Dutch director Roel Wouters is back with another single-take, technically-challenging video for another band that you've probably never heard of before. "Robot High School" for Brooklyn-based My Robot Friend plays like a high-concept art piece. It is somewhat blood-thirsty in execution, and incorporates a big, spinning cylinder and a weird little black ball.
http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/musicvideos

Fallon, Minneapolis has hired John Nussbaum, previously of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, as senior art director, re-hired copywriter Tom Sebanc and hired Roberto Lastra, also ex-Goodby, as copywriter.
http://www.fallon.com

LA's Believe Media has signed Liz Friedlander for worldwide spot rep. She will remain with DNA for music video rep.
http://www.believemedia.com

MassMarket's New York office has hired CG supervisor Jeffrey Dates and producer Nancy Hwang.
http://www.massmarket.tv

Stardust's Santa Monica has hired art director Jonathan Wu.
http://www.stardust.tv

New York creative studio Thornberg & Forester has signed Claire Carré for commercial rep.
http://www.thornbergandforester.com

Sydney-based Prodigy Films has signed Dael Oates, ex-Animal Logic, to its directorial roster.
http://www.prodigyfilms.com

Santa Monica-based FilmCore has promoted Sean Shafer to editor.
http://www.filmcore.com

Toronto's Cornerstore has signed director Mark Bennett for Canadian spot rep.
http://www.thecornerstore.tv

New York-based VFX shop, SUSPECT has hired Hoon Chong as creative director and Stefanie Bassett as producer.
http://www.suspect.tv

New York's Base Camp has signed director Georgie Greville for exclusive US spot and branded content rep.
http://www.basecampent.com

Paris-based prodco Troublemakers has signed directing duo The French Flavor.
http://www.troublemakers.tv

Toronto's Sparks Productions has signed Alliance Atlantis in-house CD Sandra Enns Arnell for spot rep.
http://www.sparksproductions.com

Getty Images in London has named Simon Samuels to the position of director, footage EMEA.
http://www.gettyimages.com