Erica Jacquez will join the Directors Guild of America (DGA) as executive in charge of government affairs later this month.
Russell Hollander, associate national executive director of the DGA, said of Jacquez, “Her deep experience in government affairs and in D.C. will be a significant asset in advocating for our members on the critical policy issues that impact their work and economic and creative rights. We look forward to putting her expertise to use on behalf of our membership.”
Jacquez will be responsible for the Guild’s federal legislative and governmental work, and will serve as an advocate for the DGA and its members on key issues such as intellectual property, copyright and anti-piracy protections; federal and state incentives for runaway film and television production; and issues relating to the protection of DGA members’ creative and economic rights. Jacquez will also coordinate and manage the work of the DGA Political Action Committee (PAC) and DGA PAC Leadership Council.
Jacquez comes on board following the retirement of longtime government affairs executive Kathy Garmezy. Jacquez joins the Guild from AltaMed Health Services–a network of community health care providers for underserved communities throughout Southern California–where she was associate VP of government relations. In Washington D.C., she served as a legislative analyst at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and prior to that as a Congressional relations officer at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. Earlier in her career Jacquez was the main community liaison for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.
Jacquez received both her doctorate in policy, planning and development, and M.P.A. from the University of Southern California. She earned her B.A. in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton. She is also a graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Leadership Program.
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.
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