Director Tamara Rosenfeld has joined Contagious for exclusive spot and branded longform representation in the U.S. This is the first commercial roost for Rosenfeld, whose branded work includes projects for Unilever (O&M/UK) and Coca-Cola (direct). Fascinated by people from different cultures and driven to tell their stories, she has spent the past decade filming in 27 countries, and in 17 languages. Her documentary feature, Equal Playing Field, was filmed on top of Mount Kilimanjaro and at the Dead Sea, as women from around the globe participated in the highest and lowest soccer matches ever played. Rosenfeld is supervising producer on the Netflix original series Street Food and producer (director) on four of the episodes. She recently completed her first assignment with Contagious, a project for Honda via agency RPA.
“I’ve been following Tamara’s career since we all started in this industry together and have been a fan of her work,” said Contagious EP Natalie Sakai. “She has a knack for quickly reading her characters and developing aspirational and visually mouth-watering stories.”
Sakai first met the director when both attended Cannes with MOFILM in 2011. It was through MOFILM that Rosenfeld created content for Campbell’s and Tropicana, going on to direct documentaries for clients including Coca-Cola, Toyota Mobility Foundation and Unilever. Fond of both scripted and unscripted assignments, she was included in SHOOT’s 2014 New Directors Showcase, and has directed commercials for major brands including Tropicana, AT&T, Jameson, Chevrolet, and nonprofit Akshaya Patra.
Rosenfeld hails from Marin County and graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Film Production from the School of Cinematic Arts. It has always been her mission to experience diverse cultures and share those stories through the filmmaking medium. As a complement to her branded work, she has story produced three episodes of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated series Chef’s Table, and the four episodes she produced (directed) for Street Food took her to Osaka, Japan; Yogyakarta, Indonesia; Chiayi, Taiwan; and Seoul, Korea. “Food is a window into the humanity and stories of these amazing, interesting people,” she explained. Rosenfeld’s adventurous, humanist spirit won her the job of directing the ice-climbing episode (“Ice Breakers”) from the daytime Emmy-winning network series Wonder Women.
Rosenfeld’s next branded project will take her to South America. Though not at liberty to reveal the client, she finds it hard to contain her enthusiasm. “One life is not enough, and through my work, I get to live multiple lives and learn new things all the time. I’m so excited to be working with Contagious, filming more fascinating people and places in this beautiful world.”
Rosenfeld joins a Contagious directorial roster which includes Andrew Laurich, Ben Ketai, Brandon Bray, Daniele Anastasion, Erik Anderson, Freise Bros, and Jeff Jenkins.
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