By Robert Goldrich
SANTA MONICA --BeachHouse Films, a Santa Monica-based house under the aegis of executive producers Dave and Patti Coulter, has signed director Noel Castley-Wright for spot representation in the U.S. Prior to branching out into directing commercials four years ago, Castley-Wright was best known as a leading visual effects artisan, primarily on the strength of his work at Company 3, Santa Monica.
During his Company 3 tenure, Castley-Wright was visual effects supervisor/artist on assorted notable commercials, including Nike’s “The Morning After” directed by Spike Jonze of now defunct Satellite (he is now with bicoastal/international MJZ) for Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore., and Apple’s “Think Different” directed by Jennifer Golub of TBWA/Chiat/Day, San Francisco. Both spots won the coveted primetime commercial Emmy Award; “The Morning After” also copped a Gold Lion at the Cannes International Advertising Festival.
After departing Company 3, Castley-Wright set up his own visual effects boutique, Platypus, in 2002. That venture was on the Company 3 premises. During his year at Platypus he not only contributed effects to varied jobs, but also started to direct with a couple of spec projects.
In ’03, Castley-Wright moved his family back to Australia, where he opened his own production house, Oxygen Pictures, through which he helmed visual effects/live-action spots. At Oxygen, with offices in Sydney and Perth, Castley-Wright also diversified into people and dialogue-driven commercials. Though he and his family recently came back to live in Southern California, Castley-Wright will continue to be repped Down Under via Oxygen. His latest assignment at Oxygen was a three-spot package for Ikea.
Castley-Wright comes aboard a BeachHouse directorial roster that includes Larry Carroll, Jeff Gordon, Brandon Kraines, Domenic Mastrippolito, Des Mullan and director/DP Gordon Willis Jr.
“Overnight Success” Has Been More Than A Decade In The Making For Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson
Meghann Fahy and Eve Hewson, two of the stars of Netflix's whodunit "The Perfect Couple," have news for you if you want to call them breakouts: They've been working in this business for more than a decade.
Fahy made her TV debut in 2009 in an episode of "Gossip Girl." Hewson's first big film role was in 2011's "This Must Be the Place." They do concede, however, that it's recent TV roles — "The White Lotus" for Fahy and "Bad Sisters" for Hewson — that have led to new frontiers of opportunity.
Susanne Bier, who directed "The Perfect Couple," says both Fahy and Hewson are "going to be big stars."
"They certainly have proper, profound star quality, Both of them in very different ways," Bier says. "Both are incredibly creative, incredibly smart, and also have a impressive insight as to who they are. You can be a great actor or actress and not necessarily really know who you are yourself. And they do."
Hewson, 33, whose dad is U2 front man Bono, may have grown up in a famous family but she's now in demand in her own right. She will next be seen in a second season of "Bad Sisters, " out in November. She's in Noah Baumbach's next film, alongside Adam Sandler, George Clooney and Riley Keough. She's also been cast in Steven Spielberg's next production and is set to star opposite Murray Bartlett in a racing series for Hulu.
Fahy, 34, is in production on a limited series with Julianne Moore and Milly Alcock called "Sirens," written by Molly Smith Metzler ("Maid") for Netflix. She also has two films in the can with Josh O'Connor ("The Crown," "Challengers") and Brandon Sklenar ("It Ends With Us").
The two actors spoke candidly about this phase of their careers. This interview has been condensed for clarity and... Read More