NEW FACES
Marcus Kemp is joining BBDO Atlanta as vice chairman/chief creative officer on Jan. 3. Currently, he is managing director/worldwide creative director on the Intel account at Euro RSCG Worldwide, which is headquartered in New York.
Jeff Nieberding has joined agency Young & Laramore, Indianapolis, as a senior writer. Additionally, Trevor Williams has been promoted to associate creative director.
Crystal Irvin is joining agency LevLane, Philadelphia, as an assistant art director.
ACCOUNT MOVEMENT
DDB Worldwide, New York, will create the next campaign for Diet Pepsi. It has yet to be determined if the entire account will move to the agency from BDDO New York.
TBWA Worldwide, headquartered in New York, has won the global corporate image account for electronics and communications giant Siemens.
Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York, has won creative duties on the Charles Schwab account, estimated at $100 million.
Saatchi & Saatchi Consumer Healthcare, New York, has won ad duties on the Levitra account.
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 โ 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