Suzanne Hargrove has come aboard PRETTYBIRD as an executive producer for traditional and new media projects. She was most recently EP at Bandito Brothers where she oversaw the commercial division and also produced longer format material that includes the Pennzoil-sponsored documentary “Breaking Barriers: Mankind’s Pursuit of Speed,” the TV doc “Shaun White: Russia Calling,” and web series work on “Mortal Kombat” and “Chop Shop.”
Hargrove also directed and co-produced with her partner Mary Ellen Duggan a short documentary titled “Olla Rae” which follows a woman who runs a soup kitchen in Louisiana.
Hargrove worked extensively as a producer before taking on EP duties. She said of her former roost, “Bandito Brothers will always hold a very special place in my heart because of the diversity of their work. I had opportunities there that I would never have had in most traditional production companies.
“There are only a handful of companies capable of doing what PRETTYBIRD does, and that’s what drew me here,” she continued. “I’ve known Kerstin [Emhoff Co-Founder/EP] for many years and look forward to working with her, Ali [Brown VP/EP] and the whole group.
Emhoff stated, “Suzanne and I have worked together for almost 17 years, and she has always been part of our family,” adds Kerstin Emhoff. “More importantly her creativity as a producer and experience in long format, action oriented and experiential work is really what I felt would be a big asset to us at this stage of our company’s growth. She also has strong relationships with many of our directors here, and we look forward to developing new talent with her.”
Hargrove arrives on the heels of PRETTYBIRD collecting a host of awards at D&AD 2015. Awards include Direction in Music Videos for DANIELS, Next Director Award for Vania Heymann, Graphic Design for Jesse Kanda, and Branded Film Content & Entertainment Award for Tim & Eric. PRETTYBIRD walked away from the D&AD with Bronze Prize honors for the year’s most awarded production company.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More