ArsenalCreative, a visual effects and design studio, has hired Andy Bate as the head of 2D and lead visual effects supervisor. Formerly a senior flame artist at a52, Bate is a multi-award winner, having worked on Procter & Gamble’s “Best Job” which garnered an Emmy, Cannes Lion Gold and a Clio Gold,, among other accolades.
“Andy is an established artist whose work is timeless,” said ArsenalCreative managing partner Mark Leiss. “With our recent growth, I felt this was the perfect opportunity to invite Andy on board to continue the excellent work ArsenalCreative is known for. He is exactly the type of talent we have been seeking to drive us to the next level.”
A 15-year plus veteran of the industry, Bate has a portfolio which includes complex campaigns for such brands as Nike, Adidas, Powerade, Xfinity, Microsoft, Hyundai, Verizon and Beats by Dre. Prior to his three-year tenure at a52, Bate began his professional career at The Mill London and in 2009 transferred to The Mill LA, helping to expand that then recently opened West Coast studio. He has contributed to projects over the years out of such agencies as Wieden+Kennedy, Black Ops, BBDO, Commonwealth, Doner, Mullen, Team One, Saatchi & Saatchi, and Publicis.
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