ModOp Films has signed director and still photographer Scott Toepfer, launching the collaboration with a broadcast, theatrical and digital/social campaign for Just For Men via agency Combe.
“I spotted Scott a couple years ago by watching his short films including It’s Better in the Wind,” said ModOp Films EP Steve Schofield. “Scott is an influencer in the lifestyle motorcycle world, he’s followed throughout the photography world, and he’s been involved in the branding of Iron & Resin, one of the coolest shops in California, since it began. When I introduced him to Rossi [ModOp EP Cannon) we all clicked, and the Just For Men campaign happened immediately.”
Toepfer has traveled the world shooting stills and live-action film for major brands including Adidas, Chevrolet, Dodge, Iron & Resin, Sapporo, Discovery Channel, Allstate and Harley Davidson.
Toepfer’s style of directing is immersive. Inspired by the mid-century New York street photographers, He has always put the camera right into the middle of the action, rather than at a distance. “It’s the way the viewer becomes invested in the story and feels like he or she knows the characters,” noted Toepfer who was previously repped as a director by The Famous Group.
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