By Carolyn Giardina
At first, one might think they’re watching a scene from a Victorian period film. But then it turns out to be "Casanova," one of three new :60s for Cailler’s Chocolates, directed by Mark Raymon Bennett of bicoastal Cohn + Company, which co-produced the spot with Plush Films, Sydney and Melbourne, for agency JWT H&F, Zurich.
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Alan Bayer, Luke DeLacey, Jaroslav Semotam and Radka Vojtiskoba were the principle actors in this spot. The SAG/AFTRA Commercials Contract Standing Committee has granted a waiver to allow commercials to be available for viewing on SHOOTonline.com. The spots cannot be copied, downloaded or e-mailed.
CLIENT
Cailler’s Chocolates.
PRODUCTION CO.
Cohn + Company, bicoastal.
Mark Raymon Bennett, director; Phillipe Lesourd, director of photography; Jack Cohn, president; David Lasseron, executive producer; Jean Marc Kerdelhue, production designer; Oscar Charpentier, costume designer. Shot on location in Prague and at Bearandov Stages, Prague.
Plush Films, Sydney and Melbourne.
Catherine Warner, line producer.
AGENCY
JWT H&F, Zurich.
Remy Fabrikant, creative director; Frederic Rossman, art director; David Keller, copywriter; Annina Wenger, producer.
EDITORIAL
Karl Marx Films, Crows Nest, Australia.
Karl Soderstein, editor.
POST
Digital Pictures, Sydney.
Siggy Ferstl, colorist (Ferstl has since joined R!OT, Santa Monica).
VISUAL EFFECTS
Animal Logic, Sydney.
Andy Brown, visual effects supervisor; Bruce Carter, creative director; Angus Wilson, lead compositor; Mark Robinson and Nick Ponzoni, compositors; Andrew Lodge, 3-D lead artist; Amy Ryan, 3-D artist; Evan Shipard and David Nelson, matte painters; Pip Malone, visual effects producer; Sarah Beard,
executive producer.
AUDIO POST
Efren Herrera, Los Angeles.
Efren Herrera, mixer.
SOUND DESIGN
Efren Herrera, Los Angeles.
Efren Herrera, sound designer.
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