Award-winning London edit house The Assembly Rooms has added Eve Ashwell as editor and partner in both Europe and the U.S. The signing adds another accomplished editor to the London roster and is a big step in the U.S. market, where Ashwell already has a growing reputation for her stateside work.
The company has been active in the American market since the beginning of this year, when it brought on U.S. EP Mary Knox, based in New York. Her representation company, Minerva Content, handles The Assembly Rooms nationally.
Ashwell is well known for both her comedy and narrative storytelling work, regularly teaming up with directors such as Daniel Kleinman and Pete Riski (Rattling Stick), Noam Murro (Biscuit), Charlie Crane (Knucklehead) and Mark Mulloy (Smuggler). During the past 12 years as an editor and partner at Cut + Run, she won a multitude of honors, including recognition from the AICE Awards, British Arrows, D&ADs and the Creative Circle.
In the U.S., Ashwell has worked with such agencies as Deutsch, Wieden + Kennedy and Energy BBDO. Recent projects includes ads and content for brands such as Coca Cola, Ikea, Zillow, Axe and McDonald’s, as well as an emotive new spot for Wrigley’s Extra Gum that has received over 70 million views online.
Nik Hindson, editor/partner at the Assembly Rooms, said of Ashwell, “Her dedication and creativity as an editor combined with her ideas and experience running a business make her the perfect partner to help us move the company forward in both the U.K. and the U.S.”
The Assembly Rooms is based in a Victorian townhouse in London’s Soho and was started in 2004 by editors/owners Hindson and Sam Rice-Edwards. It now has a roster of 10 editors.
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More