December 17, 2012
McCann Worldgroup has announced the formation of McCann ExtraBoldCondensed (McCann XBC), a NY-based division built around one of the agency’s largest global clients, MasterCard. Joyce King Thomas, the former chief creative officer of McCann New York and a co-creator of the MasterCard “Priceless” campaign in 1997, returns to McCann Worldgroup and will serve as president, McCann XBC. The McCann XBC leadership team will include, in addition to King Thomas: Richard O’Leary as managing director; and Devika Bulchandani as global strategy director. McCann XBC will report to Luca Lindner, president, Americas, Middle East and Africa, McCann Worldgroup. King Thomas served as CCO of McCann NY from 2004 through 2010. King Thomas joined McCann in New York in 1995 as sr. VP, group creative director and was named executive VP, executive creative director in 1998. After exiting McCann two years ago, she served as director of brand partnerships at LongReads…..Director Marcus Nispel has joined Tool of North America. He comes over from MJZ. Nispel has directed over 250 music videos, worked with assorted agencies and advertisers on about 2,000 commercials, and shot features for the USA Network, New Line, Warner, Lionsgate, and 20th Century Fox….The Martin Agency has announced that Matt Williams, a 21-year agency veteran, will be promoted to CEO, succeeding John Adams….
December 14, 2007
Director Georgie Greville has signed with Base Camp for exclusive representation in the U.S. for commercials and branded content. She had been directing work for MTV’s on-air promo department for the past five years….The directing team The Hennegan Brothers (John and Brad)–whose documentary The First Saturday In May premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in NY–has come aboard the roster of Villains for exclusive U.S. spot representation….Jonathan Miller, a commercialmaking veteran with experience spanning the ad agency, production house and production service arenas, has joined Los Angeles-headquartered Global Production Network (GPN) as director of client services. Headed by Harry Tracosas, GPN represents a roster of leading production services companies in 70-plus countries….Venice, Calif.-based Mechaniks has added three directors: Wayne Craig, formerly of Argyle Brothers; Brazilian helmer Marcello Galvao; and Jody Lauren Miller, who was featured in SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase last year….
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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