Production company No Smoke has added The Queen–a directing team consisting of Daniel Lumb and Crinan Campbell–to its roster for spots and branded content in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
The duo is known for its distinctive photographic style, convincing performances and inventive, idea-led technique. Lumb and Campbell met as young commercial editors and, as flatmates, began shooting short films together. Their films attracted the attention of various agencies, and they’ve steadily built a varied commercial reel. Lumb and Campbell direct in London and around the world. Working independently, The Queen is represented by Visionaries in the U.K., with other European affiliations including McQueen in Germany and Go East in Eastern Europe.
The Queen has won a host of international awards for their experimental films Fifteen (2014) and Extranjero (2011), which received the prestigious Sundance London Short Film prize. The directors have garnered recognition for their commercials and content for clients such as Samsung, Made.com, Marks and Spencer, British Airways, TalkTalk, Listerine, Debenhams, Lastminute.com, Universal Pictures and Virgin Media.
No Smoke partners Andrew Swee and Lou Addesso said they were drawn to The Queen’s original voice and subversive humor intermixed with a verité sensibility, often topped off with animation and/or VFX. A division of CFM Labs, Bicoastal No Smoke is represented by Kelly Flint of indie firm Strike Media in the East, and Robin Stevens of Robin Stevens Reps in the Midwest.
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