Director Kacper Larski has signed for representation in the U.S. with Eleanor, a production company headed by founder and EP Sophie Gold.
Larski is a highly visual filmmaker specializing in action, sports and outdoor adventure, with a particular expertise in automotive work. While born in Europe, he was raised in Toronto, and currently divides his time between there and Los Angeles. He’s known for creating films that reveal a cinematic mix between the real and the surreal, combining high end VFX with a raw and often jarring visual aesthetic marked by an accentuated sense of color, lighting, sound design and editing.
Larski continues to be represented by Asymetric in Canada, the Progress Film Co. in London and Gesas in Germany. Prior to joining Eleanor, Larski was most recently repped via production company Supply & Demand.
The director made a name for himself early in his career, as he won the Cannes Young Director Award in 2016 for his breakout work with Land Rover. More recently, he won a Silver Lion at Cannes, as well as both Silver and Gold at the 2018 Advertising & Design Club of Canada Awards. His reel includes riveting, at times abstract work for Jeep, RAM, VW, Garmin, Budweiser and the Canadian Paralympic Team, as well as fashion-focused spots for the retailers Harry Rosen and Mark’s.
“What impresses me the most about Kacper, and what makes him such a good fit for Eleanor, is that he truly wants to push the envelope,” said Gold. “And I’ve found that if you push something far enough, and in the right way, it becomes entirely new. His work has that quality – it’s fresh and original, and pulls you in.”
For his part, Larski was impressed by Gold’s deep knowledge, not just of film, but of the commercials industry. “She intuitively understands where I’ll fit in, and I’m excited by that,” he said.
Larski’s signing continues Gold’s drive to shape the Eleanor brand around the work of its directorial corps, which also includes Kate Cox, Adrian De Sa Garces, Elias Ressegatti, Kelsey Taylor, Sean Thonson, Alice Waddington and Woods.
Known for his interpretation of automotive brands, Larski said building on that reputation is one of his goals in joining the company, but that’s not all. “I’m also looking to expand into work that’s more cinematically driven, as well as scripts that are more narrative storytelling. I’m interested in emotive work that stands out and feels special.”
Gold said much of Larski’s subject matter, and indeed the manner in which he captures it, reflects his dynamic, action-oriented ethos, one informed by an ongoing quest for what can only be called personal fulfillment. “It’s like he says in his bio,” she noted. “His work has taken him around the world, and he breathes the human spirit of exploration into every shot. It just pours out of his work, which is why it’s so alluring.”
Indeed, Larski’s passionate embrace of life’s greatest experiences is what inspires him. “I want to show beauty in all things, and while action and adventure is an element of that, I also want to show the human stories that happen in these places, where the adrenaline runs high and people are pushing themselves to the limit,” he observed. “I like to take the viewer along as we go beyond their day to day lives, as I firmly believe it brings us in closer touch with our sense of humanity.”
Eleanor is represented on the East Coast by Anya Zander and Jenn Johnson of Hustle, in the Midwest by Matt Bucher of Obsidian Reps, and on the West Coast by Melissa Ross of Melissa Ross Represents.
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