Blink and Rogue, two of London’s leading commercial production houses, will form an ambitious new venture next month. While each company retains its own distinct brand and roster, Blink and Rogue will use their shared culture and resources–spanning commercial production, automotive wherewithal, animation, long-form entertainment and music production–to maximize creative opportunities for their directors and cost-effective solutions for their clients.
The partnership actually brings together six existing entities: Blink and Rogue in commercial production, award-winning companies representing major filmmaking talent like Dougal Wilson and Sam Brown; Carnage, a Rogue-backed shop launched in 2016 with production expertise in the automotive ad/marketing sector; Blinkink, the Cannes Grand Prix-winning animation studio; long-form entertainment house Blink Industries; and Major Tom/Village Green, the music production component of the Blink family.
“We already have key experience in getting all our constituent elements dancing elegantly together. The beating heart of this idea is that we will be so much more than the sum of our parts. This union prefigures our belief that a group of complementary specialisms at the top of their games, working together harmoniously and seamlessly to create the very best work possible across all moving media, is what our industry needs now and in the future,” said James Studholme, Blink’s chairman.
Charlie Crompton, co-founder of Rogue, said: “In an industry that seems to be running away from great creativity, we’re united in a belief that we must continue to run towards it. We passionately believe in the transcendent magic of great filmmaking in making transformatively powerful work for the brands we shoot for.”
Studholme continued, “There’s only one company I could possibly have contemplated doing this with and that’s Rogue. I was green with envy and admiration when they launched Carnage and am a massive fan of their directing roster. I love Charlie and David (van der Gaag, Rogue’s founding partner and Carnage CEO), our philosophies are aligned, we see the future the same way and we share an excitement at shaping ourselves to thrive. Plus, it’s going to be the most fun imaginable.”
Crompton added, “Being chair of the Arrows (British ad competition) makes you all too aware of the new split in quality levels and I passionately feel the need to always be amongst the best. And Blink are market leaders in that department having been Production Company of the year three times. They’ll push us and we’ll push them. And it helps that Rogue and Blink have been friends and mutual admirers for many years and share common values, vision and ambition”.
Rogue/Carnage’s van der Gaag added, “I’ve long admired the entrepreneurial spirit that runs through the Blink brand. The group of companies that Blink has created over the years all share the same commitment to the highest standards of creativity
and a recognition that the best quality work comes through specialism. It was that ethos that had a profound impact on our deciding to launch Carnage.”
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