Gary Winick, Digital Video Pioneer, Passes Away

On the day of the film industry’s biggest night—the Oscars—the movie world lost an important figure that left an indelible impact on the industry. Gary Winick, 49, passed away of brain cancer on Sunday. The Canadian-born film director helmed the critically acclaimed indie film Tadpole, before transitioning to more family-friendly fare, directing the comedies 13 Going on 30, starring Jennifer Garner; a live action remake of Charlotte’s Web, featuring Dakota Fanning; and most recently, the Amanda Seyfried romance film Letters to Juliet. He also helped change the way films are made, founding the New York City-based independent film production company InDigEnt in 1999 (standing for Independent Digital Entertainment), which specialized in producing films on digital video for $100,000 or under. Winick produced 19 films between 2001 and 2007, including Richard Linklater’s Tape, Rebecca Miller’s Personal Velocity, Peter Hedges’ Pieces of April, and thousands of filmmakers will continue to benefit from his work as one of the torchbearers of digital video.