Helen Hughes has been promoted to head of advertising at Framestore in London. She has been an integral part of Framestore’s production department since 2010, leading a growing team of producers across the studio’s core VFX artistry. She has had a hand in turning out major campaigns as well as a string of iconic James Bond title sequences.
The creation of the head of advertising role speaks to Framestore’s heritage in crafting commercial work, in tandem with its film division, a new television team and a wealth of digital content spanning dark rides, mixed realities and experiential installations. Hughes continues to report to Helen Stanley, managing director, and Lottie Cooper, deputy managing director, as part of the global management team overseeing the outputs of Framestore’s expanding advertising and content divisions.
Hughes is supported in her new role by the appointment of Jordi Bares and Ben Cronin as creative directors in advertising. Bares joined the company from Glassworks in May 2017, bringing with him a vibrant heritage in VFX and architecture, and a portfolio of groundbreaking commercial hits. Cronin joins the advertising leadership team from within Framestore, having risen through the ranks from junior to VFX supervisor during his tenure at the company. His experience leading and mentoring large VFX teams on headline projects for the likes of Sky, Sainsbury’s and Pepsi, will carry forth into his new role.
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.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More