Nexus Studios, with bases of operation in London, L.A. and Sydney, has signed director Fantasista Utamaro (Uta) for exclusive representation worldwide spanning commercials, branded content and music promos. Nexus will also handle UTA non-exclusively for illustration. The relationship with Nexus marks the first time Uta has been repped commercially worldwide. Prior to joining Nexus’ main talent roster, he was signed to the company’s pop-up roster of Japanese directors, Maison Hanko.
Born in Japan but based in Brooklyn, Uta is part of a new generation of young Japanese creatives challenging the traditional boundaries of art. His distinctive style explores the concepts of celebration, limitlessness and freedom through an explosion of energetic technicolor. He is behind the celebrated and wonderfully trippy “It Girl” for Pharell Williams as well as eye-popping promos for Japanese megastars including Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Hatsune Miku. Uta regularly collaborates with world-renowned artist Takashi Murakami and his passion for experimenting with styles and techniques has seen him develop a vivid and distinguished look which has captured the attention of brands and audiences globally. Uta is an ideal fit for Nexus, an independent film and immersive studio with animation and storytelling at its core.
Recent additions to Uta’s body of work include a retro game-inspired campaign for Uniqlo and a bold and impactful film mixing live-action and dynamic illustration for Tokyo Mode School. He has also created illustrative campaigns for Maybelline, Stella McCartney, BMW, GAP and Netflix to name but a few and his BE@ARBRICK collab figurines are sold out across fashion and lifestyle outlets around the world.
Christopher O’Reilly, Nexus Studios founder and executive creative director, said, “Uta is a rare creative creature; visionary but collaborative; inspired by his heritage but fusing together multicultural strands. His unique ‘ultra pop’ aesthetic brings an energy to everything he touches. We’re excited about what we will make together.”
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More