Content creation/production company Bodega has launched a director-driven animation division headed by EP Bill Hewes. The new venture will be involved primarily in commercials and branded content. Hewes brings to the studio more than two decades of experience with production expertise spanning animation, live action, VFX and design at th1ng/th2ng, FilmTecknarna and Digital Kitchen.
Initially, the roster will consist of London-based animation studio HU_SH, led by Lydia Russell and Ru Warner, and New York-based design shop Mr. Wonderful (which is part of the Bodega family of companies).
Hewes previously collaborated with Russell and Warner at th1ng/th2ng and will offer HU_SH’s entire slate of diverse talent to the U.S. market, including Academy Award-nominated French filmmaker Sylvain Chomet, animation director Will Barras and award-winning filmmaker Kirk Hendry, as well as Alon Ziv, Nerdo, Chris Weigandt, Light + Mathematics, Dave Anderson, Kirk Hendry, Julien Bisaro and Woodwork.
Recent HU_SH work includes commercials and large format displays for Prudential Global Investment Management, and a Ben & Jerry’s spot out of Mekanism. Mr. Wonderful just wrapped a series of co-branded assignments for Nickelodeon and motion design work for The Kardashians on E!.
“Bodega is a thriving, integrated content creation studio that produces compelling work across all platforms,” said Hewes. “I’m excited to lead their move into animation and introduce new talent to the roster. Our animation directors run the gamut from narrative storytelling, to design and illustration. From 2D to 3D, hand drawn, stop motion and mixed-media techniques, it’s a perfect fit.”
EP Clint Goldman of Bodega noted, “I have known Bill for many years and to have the opportunity to work side-by-side with this well-respected EP and bring these amazing animation directors to BODEGA really expands the artistic potential of what we offer. We are making a long-term commitment to animation and these additions complement our growing family.”
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