Executive producer
BRF
1) Be original. Be confident enough that you don’t give up but also self aware enough to take criticism. A director’s work is a reflection of the director. If you’re an awkward misanthrope get some therapy, your reel will improve. Be a self-creator. Don’t stop hustling just because you signed to a production company. Don’t spend too much time thinking about street cred, just do your thing with good people. Remember how lucky you are to be doing this job, be gracious, professional and have integrity in everything you do. Trust your production company when it comes to business affairs, or get a business manager and trust them. Either way, focus on directing, not on being a director.
2) Be a creative partner in the process. You have to understand, on a granular level, what is important to the idea and why. There is nothing worse then coming under budget and having a failed spot, a pissed off director and client that won’t’ return your calls. I struggle with this all the time when working with Line Producers that are just coming up from Production Managing. When your heart is in the right place then we’ll all get to the end of the project, for better or worse, together.
3) Recently did an interesting VR project with the Google Jump rig. It’s a portable rig that looks like a bunch of daisy chained GoPros on a medium size pizza. Everything was recorded into a small black box that’s attached to the rig. You simply upload the footage to Google’s cloud then 2 days later they send you a film. I was really impressed with how easy it was to shoot and the backend was pretty slick. The mobility of the system allowed us to get some really interesting shots.
4) We recently produced a really amazing short film for i-D in partnership with CHANEL called Jellywolf. The film was showcased on their creative digital platform The Fifth Sense, inspired by Chanel No5 L’EAU fragrance. It was written and directed by Alma Har’el who we work with in the UK. The world that Alma creates for this film is absolutely gorgeous and wildly creative. Jellywolf was featured at Tribeca for their prestigious X Award and recently awarded a Pencil at the D&ADs in London. We're about to publish a graphic novel based on the film – the response has been incredible. I get really excited by the idea of short form content executed at this level, it feels very innovative. I hope we see brands investing much more in these types of films in the future.
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