Naked City Films, the NY shop launched early this year by executive producer Mark Sitley, has agreed to a co-production and representation agreement with AIRBAG, an Aussie production company with offices in Melbourne and Sydney. Naked City also has brought Melbourne-based animation shop Dirty Puppet on board. The moves are the first forays into the U.S. market for both companies from Down Under.
AIRBAG was named 2017 London International Awards Global Production Company of the Year. Its PSA for the Transport Accident Commission in Victoria, “Meet Graham,” swept the award shows in 2017, winning 29 Lions at Cannes that year. Dirty Puppet and its founder/director, Cameron Gough, have won several awards there for character-driven animations in both 2D and 3D.
For Sitley, the moves give Naked City a dedicated offshore-production resource, add several significant directors to its roster, and broaden the company’s offerings to include VFX, animation and design.
The AIRBAG and Dirty Puppet introductions were made by Naked City director Dave Schmidt, who hails from Melbourne. “I’ve been a big fan of AIRBAG and founding creative director Adrian Bosich since they opened their doors in 2011 and have been following their work since then,” said Schmidt. “And I’ve been mates with Cam Gough for 15 years, and have keenly watched him build Dirty Puppet from the ground up. His talents should be recognized internationally, and I hope Naked City is just one avenue for him to do that.”
Notable among the directors who now have U.S. representation through Naked City are Astrid Salomon, a photographer/director originally from Germany, whose commercial clients have included Häagen Dazs, Adidas, Nivea, Lindt, Montblanc, P&G, and Target; and David Rittey, a Kiwi known for his performance-focused and docu-style work, as well as for a notable short film that debuted at Cannes in 2012.
“Given the pandemic environment, it makes sense to offer a diverse roster of talent that’s comfortable shooting remotely, can handle genres ranging from lifestyle to VFX and with whom we could partner as a way to meet any U.S. agency’s creative needs,” said Sitley. “Additionally, the AIRBAG directors are supported by their own very robust production, post and VFX capability.”
Naked City directors have been busy recently, with Schmidt wrapping three campaigns in October in NYC while observing strict COVID-19 protocols. He’s also edited several projects for The Martin Agency. Director Erin Collett has just signed on as DP for a new John Curran mini-series, which has just started shooting in Australia
Naked City is represented on the East Coast by Minerva x Mr. Bartlett, the business development team made up of James Bartlett, Mary Knox and Shauna Seresin. Kristina Kovacevic of KK Reps handles the Midwest.
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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