Riptide Music Group, a synchronization and rights management company that provides music to advertising, movie trailers, TV programming and promos, major motion pictures, videogames, and multi-media productions, has named George Howard as chief innovation officer. The announcement was made by Riptide president Rich Goldman and CEO Keatly Haldeman.
Howard was an early founder of Tunecore, one of the leading digital aggregators. Additionally, he is the co-founder of Music Audience Exchange, served as president of Rykodisc, and formerly managed superstar Carly Simon. A JD/MBA, Howard is a professor at Berklee College of Music and Brown University.
The news about Howard comes fast on the heels of Riptide’s announcement naming longtime music and entertainment industry executive Mark Ross as a partner. Ross brought a $4 million cash infusion into Riptide to help grow the company. Howard, a long-time associate of Ross, will become an integral member of Riptide’s next phase of business growth and development.
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