Production company JOJX has brought Kirby McClure, aka Radical Friend, aboard its directorial roster. McClure had previously been represented via production house Partizan.
Radical Friend started out as a duo consisting of McClure and Julia Grigorian. The directing partners then split up with Radical Friend becoming McClure’s solo venture. McClure and Grigorian under the Radical Friend banner worked with artists such as Skrillex, Yeasayer and Black Moth Super Rainbow. Rolling Stone recognized the filmmakers with inclusion in its rundown of “50 People Who Will Change the Future of Music.”
When McClure took over the Radical Friend mantle as an individual director, he proceeded to assemble a diverse body of work spanning performers such as HO9909 and Britney Spears, a four-minute cinematic trailer for the Netflix series Elite, ad assignments for such brands as KFC (the buzz-generating “Comeback” commercial introducing Colonel Sanders as the company’s mascot in the U.K.), AT&T, Taco Bell, Honda, Adidas, Chase Bank and Converse, as well as the feature film Spaghetti Junction which is currently available for viewing on Amazon Prime. McClure also wrote Spaghetti Junction which follows a disabled teenager in the Deep South who comes into contact with a cosmic traveler.
Jackson Morton, partner and executive producer at JOJX, said, “Radical Friend’s films are hypnotic on multiple levels. His incredible attention to detail and artistic nature engage all of your senses. He’s a director we knew would be immediately at home with JOJX—we have very similar values as filmmakers. He’s an innovator by nature, and we’re very excited to have him on our roster.”
McClure added, “Jackson [Morton] and Joe [Care, JOJX partner/EP] have an obvious passion and fire for making great work. I think we’re going to make some cool stuff together. I’m thrilled to join the JOJX family. I know I’m in great hands there as I continue to devote more time to my individual directing career.”
TikTok and the U.S. Face Off In Court Over Law That Could Lead To A Ban Of The Popular Platform
TikTok faced off with the U.S. government in federal court on Monday, arguing a law that could ban the platform in a few short months was unconstitutional while the Justice Department said the measure is critical to eliminate a national security risk posed by the popular social media company.
Attorneys for the two sides - and content creators - appeared before a panel of three judges at a federal appeals court in Washington, where TikTok and its China-based parent company, ByteDance, are challenging the law that is forcing them to break ties by mid-January or lose one of their biggest markets in the world.
Andrew Pincus, a veteran attorney representing the two companies, argued in court that the law unfairly targets the company and runs afoul of the First Amendment because TikTok Inc. - the U.S. arm of TikTok - is an American entity. Another attorney representing creators who are also challenging the law also argued it violates the rights of U.S. speakers and is akin to prohibiting Americans from publishing on foreign-owned media outlets, such as Politico, Al Jazeera or Spotify.
"The law before this court is unprecedented and its effect would be staggering," Pincus said, adding the act would impose speech limitations based on future risks.
The law, signed by President Joe Biden in April, was the culmination of a years-long saga in Washington over the short-form video-sharing app, which the government sees as a national security threat due to its connections to China.
The U.S. has said it's concerned about TikTok collecting vast swaths of user data, including sensitive information on viewing habits, that could fall into the hands of the Chinese government through coercion. The U.S. also says the proprietary algorithm that fuels... Read More