Joshua Hirsch has joined Deutsch LA as executive VP/executive creative technology director. Previously, he served as chief technology officer at Publicis Kaplan Thaler where he oversaw the agency’s technology and innovation practice. Perhaps Hirsch’s most notable creative achievement to date is his contribution to the HBO “Voyeur” Project while at Big Spaceship. His team created a New York panorama that brought voyeuristic tales to life, illustrating HBO as a leader in both TV and storytelling via an initiative out of BBDO New York.
At Deutsch LA, Hirsch will lead the agency’s team of 55 in-house developers, which is known for building enterprise-level websites for brands like Volkswagen, social campaigns for Taco Bell, and digital product invention for Esurance and Pop Secret, among other things.
“We’ve made giant digital strides over the last three years, but we’re not content. Our goal is to be the best digital agency in the business,” said Winston Binch, chief digital officer at Deutsch LA. “Joshua is one of the smartest and most respected technologists in the advertising business.”
Hirsch got his start in the industry coding and designing websites. After stints as a senior designer/developer at Guggenheim.com and Asymptote, he joined Brooklyn digital agency Big Spaceship in 2002. Starting as the agency’s sole coder, he soon became a partner and minister of technology, serving as mentor and leader of the technology team responsible for building numerous award-winning digital projects for over a decade.
Hirsch is a member of the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences and a long-standing adviser on Adobe product launches.
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