U.K. director Jak O’Hare has joined Vigics, the Amsterdam-based production company founded by Dwight Groot. Vigics will rep O’Hare for commercials, branded content and music videos internationally except for the U.K. O’Hare recently moved to Amsterdam and has already made two films in the Netherlands–for Mazda commissioned by Vice and Nike commissioned by We Are Pi–and more recently he directed the short film Perfectly Flawed, which is set in the current pandemic. Perfectly Flawed is about two young adults who meet for the first time on a hot summer night and between whom a genuine conversation about life, uncertainty, dreams, vulnerability, but also trust and faith arises….
In & Out Productions has added director Steven Leone, a Brooklyn native, to its roster. He has turned out work for brands ranging from Pandora to Bed Bath & Beyond. Having grown up in NY, Southern California and Europe and of Spanish, Korean, and French descent, Leone brings a global perspective and an open mind to his projects….
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