Maya Brewster-Dorian named chief production officer
Gary Vaynerchuk, chairman of media and communications holding company VaynerX, has launched Eva Nosidam Productions. The moniker, which spells Madison Ave. backwards, signifies the intent of the new studio–to be the antithesis of Madison Ave. by creating ads that don’t feel like ads but rather content that moves and engages people. Maya Brewster-Dorian will lead the company as chief production officer, reporting to Vaynerchuk.
Eva Nosidam Productions takes the place of VaynerProductions in the VaynerX family of companies, embracing a different approach to production. Eva Nosidam will create mini documentaries and branded series for social media, music videos, podcasts, augmented and virtual reality, events, guerrilla marketing, installations, and more. The company is based in Long Island City, New York, with fully equipped stages, equipment, and postproduction capabilities. Eva Nosidam’s studios are designed to allow for innovation and experimentation; shoot fully fleshed out projects for brands; and host events, music drops, and video launches. Eva Nosidam Productions is a separate entity from VaynerMedia, a creative and media agency also under the VaynerX umbrella. VaynerMedia, though, can utilize Eva Nosidam Productions for projects just as it would any other production company.
“As a modern storytelling and production company, Eva Nosidam Productions will create content that people actually want to watch,” said Vaynerchuk. “The name is the punchline–we really do intend to turn the industry on its head by rejecting yesterday’s Madison Avenue approach to advertising and unlocking what’s going on in culture for our clients.”
Brewster-Dorian added, “What unites everything we do at Eva Nosidam Productions is the desire to create the most consumer-centric and culturally relevant content that truly resonates with people.”
As chief production officer, Brewster-Dorian will oversee Eva Nosidam Productions. Throughout her career, Brewster-Dorian has spearheaded best-in-class communications, events, and experiences for global brands. She founded Network Réseau, a facilitator company that connects brands in new ways to produce content, in part by making premier talent and production capabilities attainable. Her experience spans working for advertising agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and J. Walter Thompson to production companies such as Anonymous Content, Partizan Entertainment and RadicalMedia.
“Throughout her career, Maya has been an incredible partner to brands,’’ said Vaynerchuk. “She has an incredibly diverse production background with a broad range of disciplines and sees the production world in a very different way. I am excited to work with her to build Eva Nosidam Productions and deliver impactful content for brands.”
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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