The U.K. hub of creative studio Ntropic has brought on board directors Brian Williams and KAM (Katie McQuillan).
KAM joins from The Mill where she served as a director. There she first met Ntropic executive creative director Aidan Gibbons, forming a friendship that informed her professional path and facilitated her eventual move to Ntropic. Over her career, KAM has brought her heightened perspective to various spots for EA Sports/FIFA, Irish e-commerce startup Haru, as well as her own short film A-Z of NI which breaks down famously inscrutable Northern Irish slang with deft wit and a pinch of ridiculousness. Now, at Ntropic, she will serve as both a director and art director, helping to guide the studio’s overall creative vision.
Meanwhile, Williams originates from the world of graphic design, having worked on album covers (most famously U2’s Zooropa) before moving into becoming an advertising and short film director. At agency Dynamo, he worked on channel visuals for TG4, TV3 and the MTV Music Awards. Since then, he’s created major heartfelt campaigns for Toyota, Bridgestone, and Children in Need, cinematic stories for Jose Cuervo and high concept work for Rolls Royce. His hands-on approach involves capturing the ordinary in extraordinary ways or creating worlds from scratch, whether with physical sets, installations or fully CG.
“When we set out on this journey to launch the London office, we started thinking about the people that we want to partner with-people that make sense for the collaborative type of studio that we are building,” said Ntropic founder and chief creative officer Nate Robinson. “It’s people that are like-minded, with different styles but all very complementary to one another. Both Brian and Katie are egoless creatives who also have confident ideas about the stories they want to tell and are super passionate about what they do.”
Both Williams and KAM are repped at Ntropic by Bec Cunningham. Ntropic maintains offices in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and London.
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 — 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