Director Gregory Maya, long known for high-end fashion/beauty work, his visual sensibilities, and an affinity for capturing emotional human portraits and performances by actors and real people, has returned to his original production house roost, The Artists Company.
Over the years, Maya–who had most recently been with Bully Pictures–has amassed directorial credits spanning such brands as Pantene, Target, Dove and Walmart. His latest endeavors have been for TJMaxx, March of Dimes and Bare Escentuals.
“The return of Greg Maya means so much to me personally as he is one of the homegrown talents that began with our storied company,” said Sally Antonacchio, owner/executive producer of The Artists Company. “His versatility with regards to casting, performance and switching between genres makes him the exact kind of director I want on my roster. He can go from magnificent hair drops to poignant vignettes at the drop of a hat. It just feels right having him back home.”
Maya related, “Having a team starting with Sally Antonacchio that is down to earth and believes in representing each director with unqualified conviction is all I can ask of a production company. That The Artists Company has always been a class act no matter the size or platform of the job is important to me. Like old friends, and being able to pick up where we left off is an invaluable relationship in a business where affiliations are all too often fleeting and of the moment.”
In addition to rejoining The Artists Company roster, Maya is also moving his base of operations back to the East Coast where his career began. He is repped by Carolyn’s Office on the East Coast, Mary Saxon on the West Coast, Laure Scott for Los Angeles, Perry Tongate in Texas and the Southwest, Donna D’Aguanno in the Midwest, and Alana Rothlein for the Hispanic market.
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