Design-first creative studio ATK PLN has named Ann Asprodites of Asprodites Reps to handle sales representation in the Southeast and Texas. She has over two decades of experience in the industry spanning creative representation of live action, animation, visual effects, music and sound design to advertising and brand clients in the Southeast from Texas through Florida and up through Virginia. In addition to ATK PLN, her indie rep firm’s current roster includes Brawler, Durable Goods, Five to Sixty, Havoc Content, Lava, NomadFC, REVERSE, Rodeo Show, Untitled and Yessian Music…..
ICM Commercial Production Arts has added cinematographer Daniel Bombell to its roster. Bombell won an International Cinematographers Guild (ICG) Emerging Cinematographer Award last year for his short film titled Present Day, Athens. He is a member of ICG, IATSE Local 600….
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) has made feature film bookings for DP Tami Reiker, ASC on the Regina King-directed One Night In Miami, DP Fernando Arguelles, ASC, AEC, on Princess Switch 2: Switched Again, and editor Brad McLaughlin on Goodbye Butterfly. On the television side, DDA has booked DP James Kniest on Haunting of Bly Manor (Netflix) and editor Bryan Irving on the Starz pilot Run The World….
NewTek, known for IP-based video technology and part of the Vizrt Group, has named Barbara Spicek as SVP of global sales and Paul Dobbs as its Asia-Pacific sales director. With more than 20 years of experience working with channel sales in the software/technology industry, Spicek will be based at NewTek headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, when she is not on the road visiting channel partners. Dobbs’ home office will be in Bangkok, Thailand. NewTek is transforming the way people create network-style television content and share it with the world. From sporting events, Web-based talk shows, live entertainment, classrooms, and corporate communications, to virtually any place people want to capture and publish live video, NewTek gives customers the power to grow their audiences, brands and businesses. NewTek clients include: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom, New York Giants, NBA Development League, Fox News, BBC, NHL, Nickelodeon, CBS Radio, ESPN Radio, Fox Sports, MTV, TWiT.TV, USA TODAY, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Celebro Media, Cardiff Metropolitan University, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Charles University in Prague, Pinsent Masons LLP, and more than 80% of the U.S. Fortune 100….
FOR-A Corporation of America, manufacturer of broadcast and production products including video switchers, routing switchers, multi-viewers, full 4K high-speed cameras and IP encoders/decocers, has hired David Morris as its Western regional sales manager. He will lead sales efforts across more than a dozen U.S. states, including Alaska and Hawaii, as well as Western Canada. Morris spent more than 16 years as the western regional sales manager for Hitachi, almost seven years as a senior district sales manager for JVC Professional Products, and more than six years in sales for Premier Mounts. Most recently, he held sales positions with VMI Video and Extron…..
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