Content creation studio BODEGA–with bases of operation in NY and San Francisco–has added L.A.-based animation director Ken Duncan to its animation roster for advertising and content representation in the U.S. He has animated for classic feature films including The Lion King, 9, Tarzan, and Aladdin along with spots for Coca Cola, Disney, Cocoa Puffs, and The San Francisco Giants.
Duncan continues to maintain his Duncan Studios but now is branching out through BODEGA Animation to extend his reach in the marketplace.
After graduating from Sheridan College in Canada, Duncan moved to Europe where he worked with legendary animator Oscar Grillo and on various European feature films. Duncan then joined Walt Disney Animation Studios where he helped create classic characters for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Treasure Planet and one of his personal favorites, Meg, in Hercules. After his time at Disney, Duncan worked on Shark Tale for DreamWorks Animation. In 2007 he fulfilled a lifelong dream of owning an animation shop by launching Duncan Studio, a hand-drawn and CG animation shop.
Duncan’s understanding of character and performance, coupled with an extensive knowledge of art, history and design, imbue both his CGI and traditional 2D hand-drawn work with a uniquely recognizable sense of realism, humanity and style.
BODEGA Animation EP Bill Hewes said of Duncan, “He belongs to a very elite group of character and narrative animators. Ken and his team consistently deliver stunning, emotionally driven performances that are extremely relevant to agency and brand direct clientele.”
Duncan said of BODEGA Animation, “Their track record of creativity and business success is the perfect platform to showcase Duncan Studios’ unique brand of animation to a wider audience.”
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.
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