New venture secures director Adam Levite for exclusive representation worldwide
Veteran NY production executive Danny Rosenbloom and Yann Mabille, formerly creative director for The Mill and Mill+ New York, have joined forces to launch their new interdisciplinary director’s group, INTERSTATE. Conceived as the U.S. partner to BLVD, A Montreal-based integrated production company, INTERSTATE will leverage BLVD’s production/VFX/post talent and resources while empowering directors and clients to pursue creative solutions unencumbered by the overhead costs associated with large-scale operations. These solutions will span commercial, music video and branded content productions as well as interactive, immersive and experiential projects.
Rosenbloom and Mabille will serve as managing director and creative director, respectively, at INTERSTATE which has also secured worldwide representation for director Adam Levite for commercials, music videos and branded content. The new venture can additionally access the talents of BLVD’s creative director Thibaut Duverneix, and plans to bring others on board as well.
Rosenbloom’s 20-plus years of experience includes service as a member of the AICP’s East Coast Board of Directors, National Labor Board and the National Digital Board of Directors (where he is also a founding member). Most recently the managing director for commercials for creative strategic design agency eyeball, he spent the previous seven years as partner and executive producer of Brand New School, where he ran the New York office and oversaw the company’s global operations. Also taking into account his former role as executive producer and head of production for Psyop, in total he has produced hundreds of commercials and network rebrands.
Mabille’s experience in the VFX, gaming and advertising industries has been earned in France, London and New York. For the past 15 years, his specific roles with The Mill in New York were creative director, director at Mill+, VFX supervisor and joint head of 3D. He has led high-profile projects for leading entertainers, networks, brand and agencies. He is also available as a directorial talent at INTERSTATE.
Levite has been on the directorial roster of Ghost Robot since 2009, where his most recent projects have been for Ford, Nike, Google, A&E, Toshiba and Verizon. Through his past stints as creative director for Prologue and as a roster director for Partizan and Offspring, he has directed scores of top-tier commercial, branded content and music video projects. As a designer, Levite has produced iconic designs for Atlantic Records, Burton Snowboards, the Guggenheim Museum, Miramax, MTV, New Line, Nike, VH1, Verve Records and others. Among many of his notable works are his movie posters for Boogie Nights and Happiness.
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