MAJORITY–a production company launched earlier this year by Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Senain Kheshgi and veteran ad industry EP Jonathon Ker–has unveiled its directorial roster for commercials and branded content. The lineup features women directors from the indie film worlds of documentary and fiction narrative, including Kheshgi (The Diplomat), Anjali Nayar (Silas), Laura Gabbert (City of Gold), Ilinca Calugareanu (Chuck Norris vs Communism), Elizabeth Wood (White Girl), Cynthia Hill (Chef’s Table), Ondi Timoner (Mapplethorpe), Mel Jones (Leimert Park), Anu Valia (Comedy Central’s The Other Two), Lulu Wang (Posthumous), Laura Nix (Inventing Tomorrow), Siqi Song (Sister), Judith Helfand (Blue Vinyl), Rachael Holder (I Love Bekka & Lucy), and Danielle Krudy (Blow the Man Down).
Rounding out the MAJORITY talent roster are Angela Kohler (Kindle, Target), Danielle Parsons (founder of streaming channel Wonder Science), and Maya Edelman (animator and illustrator).
Collectively, MAJORITY’s directors have received six Emmy nominations and one Emmy Award, four Sundance Jury Prize awards, three Peabody Awards, the James Beard Award, and assorted other awards and fellowships.
“I’m invigorated by the opportunity to lead MAJORITY and propel indie women directors to the forefront of storytelling in the commercial and branded space,” said Kheshgi who also serves as managing director of the company. “The very nature of independent film requires its directors to work closely with partners to develop and execute concepts all the way through from production to engaging audiences. We’re excited by these talented storytellers and the unique skillsets they bring to the world of brands and agencies.”
Kheshgi and Ker were joined on the MAJORITY management team in April by EP Katie Doering who until recently was producing the Women at Sundance fellowship, which focused on indie women directors breaking into the commercial and branded space.
“The last year has been a watershed moment for women in media, and MAJORITY is the next step in this evolution toward gender parity behind the lens,” said Doering. “We are a home, a vehicle, and an opportunity for women directors to advance their craft by doing what they do best: creating compelling stories by collaborating with brands, growing their body of work, and enhancing their voice as creative leaders in the field.”
Kerr related, “I have had the good fortune of working with incredibly talented women directors throughout my career in advertising. I am more than excited to support the women artists of MAJORITY, and I look forward to helping them make a smooth transition into the advertising and branded world.”
MAJORITY’s directors have created content for such media platforms as HBO, Adult Swim, Facebook, ESPN, This American Life, and Comedy Central. The directors have also helmed spots for brands including Comcast, Google, Johnson & Johnson, Lexus, Microsoft, MGM, PepsiCo., Refinery29, Room & Board, Shatterbox and Target.
In 2019 MAJORITY plans to launch a creative lab to foster and support emerging and established indie women directors, leading the way to developing career sustainability by creating an infrastructure for its filmmakers. Additionally, MAJORITY’s studio will provide women filmmakers with access to capital for financing and packaging their independent projects.
MAJORITY has secured commercial representation on the East Coast with Minerva, the business development company run by partners Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin.
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