Editor Kenji Yamauchi started at Lost Planet in July 2015 as an Assistant Editor. Yamauchi explains, “I moved to the United States, from São Paulo, all by myself. To be completely honest, I never had the dream to work abroad but when the opportunity at Lost Planet appeared, I jumped on it. It's not easy being alone in a new country and looking back, if anyone had told me how taxes work I'd probably never have come, but I'm glad no one did, so here I am.” Yamauchi's skill in executing emotional storylines is evidenced in his work on campaigns with Google, Samsung, Amex, Budweiser, as well as his work in music videos with artists such as Mumford & Sons.
Tania Mesta's path to editing was not as direct. She explored many roads, from studying French and business in college to working on a home renovation show in Los Angeles, and finally landing as an assistant editor at RPS where her training began. Born of Mexican parents and raised in El Paso, Texas, she is both figuratively and literally from the border, embracing what both cultures bring to her world view and her work. She has edited numerous campaigns with brands such as Calvin Klein, Prada, and Mass Mutual.
Executive Producer Krystn Wagenberg shared, “My experience has taught me that we must continue to seek the latest talent to reap the benefit of new ideas and fresh eyes. Both Kenji and Tania have the fearless edge that will help push the boundaries of emotional and creative storytelling. I am super excited to be involved in taking their careers to the next level.”
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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