On the back of a rapid growth period, including recent high-profile work for ASICS, REPLAY, Qatar Airways and PlayStation, 180 Amsterdam boosts its account management power with the hire of Melanie Portelli as client services director.
She moves to Amsterdam from Now Advertising in London where her role spanned running client business including iconic British brand Butlins, and new business development. Prior to this, she has held business director, and new business director, positions for the likes of agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi (both London and Sydney) and CHI & Partners.
In her new role, Portelli will be working on current clients such as PlayStation and new client wins that are yet to be announced. She will also be tasked with adding her experience to the business development function to support the agency’s ambitious expansion strategy.
Part of Omnicom Group, 180 is an international creative agency with offices in Amsterdam and Los Angeles.
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