Deep Focus, a global digitally-led creative agency, has promoted Kara O’Neill from managing director to president of its New York office. She reports directly to Ian Schafer, founder and chairman.
A marketing vet with more than 20 years of experience, O’Neill joined Deep Focus in 2014 from Y&R NY, where she led the agency’s food practice for clients such as Hillshire Farm, Campbell’s Soup and Pepperidge Farm. Prior to Y&R, O’Neill spent 11 years at BrandBuzz as the general manager, where she managed a team of 60 responsible for creative and strategic planning for the likes of LG, the Nets, the NBA, Jim Beam Brands and SONY.
O’Neill’s background working at Y&R, BrandBuzz, Ranch 1 and Clarion Performance Properties has allowed her to represent many iconic brands, including Coca-Cola, Perrier, NASCAR and General Mills. Originally from New York, she earned a Bachelor’s of Science in Marketing from Saint John’s University’s Peter J. Tobin College of Business.
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