Currently in running for Outstanding Directing For A Variety Series for "Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live In Concert"
Commercial production company Tröll Pictures has added director Natalie Johns to its roster. She is currently nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special for Annie Lennox: Nostalgia Live in Concert, a PBS Great Performances presentation. Additionally, Johns’ documentary I Am Thalente tied for the Audience Award (with Lilibet Foster’s Be Here Now) honoring Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival.
“For my first formal relationship with a commercial production company, I was drawn to the fact that Tröll is very specialized with a very small roster–they treat their directors like partners,” said Johns who was also drawn to the prospects of working with company EP Peter Steinzeig.
Johns was born in Zimbabwe, grew up in South Africa, launched her career in the UK, and is currently based in Los Angeles. Throughout her career she has directed and produced many live concert events, television and web specials, working with artists including Bono, Madonna, Rod Stewart, Pussy Riot, Sam Smith, The Flaming Lips, The White Stripes, Peter Gabriel, Lauryn Hill, Adele, Imagine Dragons, A$AP Rocky, and Childish Gambino. She has worked with Amnesty International on several projects including its “Bring Human Rights Home” and “Electric Burma” concerts, and with Coca Cola’s Replenish Africa Initiative (RAIN) on a branded video starring Chris Taylor, Solange Knowles, and Twin Shadow that reached half a million viewers in under 24 hours. She has also collaborated with brands including Spotify, Bacardi, Nike, and Rock The Vote on commercial campaigns.
In addition to commercial projects, Johns is currently in development on a documentary with John Legend’s #FREEAMERICA initiative.
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