Omelet, an L.A.-based branding, marketing and entertainment company, has appointed Mike Wallen to the newly created position of chief content officer. Wallen, who has been serving as partner and EVP, content & development, will continue to oversee Omelet Studio, the company’s branded content division, which is currently working with roster clients like Microsoft and AT&T, while also producing License to Operate, Omelet’s first feature-length film which follows ex-L.A. gang leaders turned street saviors.
Since joining Omelet in 2011, Wallen has brought in marquee clients including Walmart and Red Bull, as well as developed Omelet Studio into a full-fledged content division. Under his leadership, the company recently began development on its second feature-length documentary and in his new role, he will continue to shape the future of Omelet-created branded content while also playing an important part in the creation and publication of Wake Up, the company’s strategic quarterly magazine.
A graduate of Art Center, Wallen has co-created and written several animated comedies with networks that include 20th Television and Spike TV. Prior to joining Omelet, Wallen was head of Fox Mobile Studios, a unit of NewsCorp, where he developed and produced original and licensed content that was tailored specifically for mobile and online distribution worldwide.
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