Sound design and music company Machine has hired James Cobbold as sr. sound designer. He arrives at Machine’s newly expanded London studios with a portfolio of award-winning work and sound design experience honed over years at audio facilities 750mph and Jungle.
While Cobbold’s showreel spans genres, the self-proclaimed “petrol-head” has a deep pedigree in automotive projects. Cobbold’s work on Sky Sports’ “F1: Watch it Live. Feel it All” and Shell’s “Cold” won Gold Music & Sound Awards, the latter also earning a Silver Kinsale Shark Award and Bronze Clio.
Other career highlights include films for Durex, RAF and Old El Paso. An accomplished musician, having first tinkled the ivories at the age of five, Cobbold has also composed music for clients including Nike, McLaren, Mont Blanc and Microsoft.
Machine maintains bases of operation in London (the Fitzrovia district) and New York. Alex Bingham serves as creative director and sound designer while Louise Baker is head of production.
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