Content creation studio BODEGA, which maintains offices in NY, L.A. and San Francisco, has added Baltimore-based director Matt Pittroff to its roster for exclusive U.S. commercial representation. Pittroff previously helmed spots and branded content out of his own roost, Working Stiff. Prior to that he was repped by Station Film.
Known for blending the real with the slightly absurd to create a uniquely relatable brand of humor, Pittroff is off to a quick start at BODEGA, currently in production on Spectrum (Crow Creative, NY), Enterprise (Cannonball, St. Louis), Maryland Health (GMMB, Washington, D.C.), and just wrapping a short film that will debut soon.
His body of work over the years includes campaigns for Hilton Honors, Bank Of America, Firehouse Subs, McDonald’s, National Car Rental, and Ameristar Casinos. Pittroff will continue collaborating with his long-time producing partner Steve Blair.
BODEGA EP/partner Clint Goldman related, “I have known Matt and his work for such a long time and he’s one of these directors who can do witty dry humor combined with smart, sharp art direction and cinematography.”
Pittroff said, “A new outlet for media pops up every day, and I say ‘hell yes!’ More places for us to showcase compelling content. Storytelling will always be the constant, and should never be second to technology, turnaround, budget or aspect ratio. I’m excited to continue exploring this constant at BODEGA.”
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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