Japanese Brazilian writer-director Edson Oda–whose debut film Nine Days won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and received a Best First Feature nomination from the 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards–has joined the roster of Eleanor, the production company under the aegis of founder/EP Sophie Gold, for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. This marks Oda’s first representation in the U.S.
Nine Days inspired Gold to reach out and connect with Oda. “I watched his film Nine Days and absolutely loved it,” recalled Gold. “It’s such a well-crafted story that he paced phenomenally, allowing the audience to fully embrace the events on screen without over-explaining them. It really moved me and I’m looking forward to watching it again.”
For Oda, the suicide of his uncle influenced his decision to construct a film that celebrates the small moments in life, as well as mental health and depression. “It is a dazzling exploration of death; not why people die, but how they live,” said Oda.
The first-time feature filmmaker fits into the director-focused model that Eleanor has crafted. Before winning the Waldo Salt honor at Sundance, Oda wrote, directed, and supervised projects for Philips, Telefonica, Movistar, InBev, Whirlpool, Johnson & Johnson, Honda, and Nokia. He did this brand work when he was an advertising sr. creative in Brazil, Spain and London at DM9DDB, DDB Spain and Wieden+Kennedy.
Oda joins an Eleanor directorial lineup that includes Kate Cox, Woods, Adrian De Sa Garces, Kacper Larski, Elias Ressegatti, Kelsey Taylor, Dawit N.M. and Alice Waddington.
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