Writer-director Magellan Rubin has joined the Seed Media Arts’ roster. He had previously been freelancing. Rubin began as a cinematographer but yearned to tell the stories himself. The 23-year-old Rubin has since successfully settled into the director’s chair, having already helmed commercials for brands like Mercedes-Benz and Nike while also pursuing music videos for major artists like G-Eazy. Rubin was drawn to Seed owner Roy Skillicorn’s track record for nurturing and developing young directors. Skillicorn and EP Kris Mathur head up Seed while also teaming together at Backyard Productions, the company Skillicorn founded. Both entities share resources that aid them in the marketplace….
Toronto-based Partners Film has added director Trevor Gourley to its roster for Canadian representation. Gourley was previously handled in Canada by Skin & Bones. He’s not repped in the U.S. Gourley’s reel showcases dialogue-driven comedy and grounded performances even in the most absurd situations. He has helmed campaigns for Taco Bell, RBC, Canadian Western Bank and the recently released “Charades” for The Source out of Juniper ParkTBWA. Gourley began his career agency side and spent a decade as one of Canada’s most award-winning creatives before transforming his ear for dialogue and eye for performance into a career as a commercial director….
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