Changes at the Helm
David Naylor & Associates (DNA), Hollywood, has taken on exclusive spot and music video representation in the U.S. for London-based production company Pagan. A prime focus for commercials will be Pagan director Vaughan Arnell, who made his first mark in the industry as half of the directing team Vaughan +Anthea, with Anthea Benton, in the mid-1980s. The duo was successful in both videos and spots. Arnell and Benton then began solo directing careers in ’96. Vaughan continued to be active in clips (The Spice Girls’ “Say You’ll Be There”) and commercials (Orange, Audi, Levi’s, Stella Artois). He joined Pagan in ’02. Additionally, Pagan has the mono-monikered Rankin, a noted photographer, publisher and most recently film director, whom DNA will handle stateside. David Naylor is president of DNA. His counterpart at Pagan is Adam Saward….. Director Grant Baird has joined MotivFilms, a Santa Monica shop founded in ’00 by director Eric Bute and exec producer Jim Rutherford. Baird first became known on the agency side, having served as creative director and head of production at Bozell-Bonneville and at Bonneville Communications, Salt Lake City…..MRB Productions has added directors Todd Kellstein, Brian O’Connell and Vincent Pagazza, joining company mainstay helmer Mark Teitelman…..Karla SofÃa Gascón Could Make Trans History For Role In “Emilia Pérez”
Karla SofÃa Gascón's performance in "Emilia Pérez" as a Mexican drug lord who undergoes gender affirmation surgery to become a woman has brought her global acclaim and set Gascón on a path that may make her the first openly transgender actor ever nominated for an Oscar. But on this morning, she's feeling contemplative. "I woke up with such a philosophical streak," Gascón says, smiling. "In life, everything can be good or bad. We are a mix of so many things. There are things that make you happy and instead they make you sad, or the other way around." The dichotomies of life are a fitting subject for Jacques Audiard's "Emilia Pérez," a film that puts just about every genre — musical, crime thriller, melodrama — into a grandiose mixer, and, by sheer nerve, manages to coalesce into one of the year's most memorable movie experiences. "Emilia Pérez," which began streaming Wednesday on Netflix, is widely expected to be a best picture nominee. At the center of the "Emilia Pérez" phenomenon – which began with a barn-storming premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — is Gascón who plays both the menacing cartel kingpin Manitas and the woman who emerges after Manitas fakes his own death, Emilia Pérez. Years later, Emilia contacts the lawyer who facilitated her transition (Zoe Saldaña) to her reunite with her wife (Selena Gomez) and their children. The wild swings of "Emilia Pérez" – a movie that has earned comparisons to both "Sicario" and "Mrs. Doubtfire" – wouldn't be possible without Gascón. In Cannes, she and her co-stars shared in the best actress prize, which Gascón accepted. "We've been insulted, denigrated, subjected to a lot of violence without even knowing why," Gascón said that evening. "I think this is award is so much more... Read More