Benji Vega has been named chief creative officer at Creative Energy, an agency which operates offices in Johnson City, Tenn., and Asheville, NC. Vega comes over from The Richards Group in Dallas where he spent nearly 10 years, most recently as group creative head for the agency’s affiliate, PYRO. His credits include campaigns for restaurant and hospitality clients, financial, automotive, tourism, retailer and lifestyle brands.
Tony Treadway, president of Creative Energy, said that Vega will “oversee all of our creative executions and support an aggressive new business effort within our core vertical markets. He will also oversee our integrated approach (traditional through digital/social) to existing accounts, including Hispanic marketing efforts.”
As a managing partner, Vega founded a national Hispanic agency, iNSPIRE!, for Leo Burnett and served as creative director for Ornelas & Associates, a Dallas-based Hispanic firm for brands as diverse as Nissan and Budweiser.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More