Global digital production company Method Studios, a Deluxe company, has made two key hires. Bryan Farhy has been named managing director, West Coast, for Method Studios, while Michael Bennett comes aboard as sr. VP and executive producer, West Coast, for MethodMade, the design-focused arm of Method Studios.
Both Farhy and Bennett bring deep industry knowledge, proven leadership, and creative vision to Method. As head of business development and an EP at B-Reel, Farhy helped the company earn multiple top honors, including a place on Forbes’ list of America’s Most Promising Companies during his tenure. Farhy has also held EP and head of sales roles at Ridley Scott’s RSA Films, and Stink Films, and is the founder of Fireflies West, a non-profit that organizes an annual charity bicycle ride between Los Angeles and San Francisco to raise money for cancer research.
Prior to joining MethodMade, Bennett served as managing director of Laundry, where he established and spearheaded operations for the design and animation studio’s new San Francisco location. He also has held EP and business development roles at Laundry Los Angeles, Ntropic San Francisco, yU+co, and Belief Design.
“The needs of our clients are changing as advanced technology and the way media is consumed transform the entertainment experience at every level. Bryan, with his extensive background in production and experiential, and Michael, coming from the world of animation and design, bring in new perspectives and that’s really exciting,” said Stuart Robinson, managing director and executive VP of North American Advertising Production for Method Studios.
Farhy said, “Method is a vanguard in digital production at a time when content is in great demand. The studio creates characters, creatures and the worlds they live in, and if you’re a creator right now, you’re running towards the right goal post.”
Bennett noted, "I love content that feels like a gift to the audience instead of an ad, while still aligning with a brand’s identity. The work of MethodMade feels authentic and relevant across visual styles."
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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