Multidisciplinary production studio Hornet has promoted four staffers who collectively have worked with the company for more than 30 years.
Kristin Labriola has been promoted to head of creative development, a new role within the Hornet studio. For eight years, Labriola has operated as the development producer at Hornet, where she developed the creative strategy behind Hornet’s commercial pitch process, managed this process logistically and creatively from beginning to end, and helped with director outreach and the continued fostering of Hornet’s director roster.
Cathy Kwan has been promoted to executive producer. Kwan has been with Hornet for close to a decade. Prior to Hornet, she worked in long-form television production for children’s programming, managing relationships with animation studios and seeing to all phases of production. Her role as sr. producer at Hornet has seen her work with a number of major clients, including ongoing campaigns with Facebook. As she moves into her EP role, Kwan will bid and produce jobs along with a more concentrated emphasis on further developing Hornet’s client relationships at Hornet.
Marty Geren has been promoted to sr. producer. Geren has been with Hornet for the last 10 years, the first half of which was as a CG lead before becoming a producer. As Geren moved into his role as a producer, his extensive background in CG modeling, lighting, texturing, and rendering made him the perfect liaison between art and production at Hornet. For nine years, he has led the McDonald’s campaign with Leo Burnett London, one of Hornet’s longest relationships.
And Dez Stavracos has been promoted to sr. producer. With a strong background in 2D animation and six years as a producer at Hornet, Stavracos’ journey to sr. producer has been eclectic and interesting. After studying traditional animation at the School of Visual Arts in New York, he worked for three years as a producer for renowned animator and filmmaker Bill Plympton. Stavracos’ experience with long-form 2D animation—his first “true love”—has made him an invaluable contributor to the 2D department at Hornet. Moving forward, he will continue to produce with an added focus on nurturing and developing the 2D team.
Hornet managing partner Michael Feder said the promotions “are really about empowering a group of wonderfully talented team members who’ve been at the core of Hornet’s evolution over the years.”
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