Editor Carl Schumacher has joined Optimus. A veteran of the Chicago post community, Schumacher brings experience with brands as diverse as the Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Disney, Indiana University Health, Miller Lite, Oscar Mayer and State Farm for agencies including DDB, Digitas, Leo Burnett, mcgarrybowen and Schafer Condon Carter.
Most recently, Schumacher was an editor and partner at Conspiracy. Before that, he worked at Cutters in Chicago from 2007 until early this year. At Cutters, Schumacher worked his way up from intern to assistant and then made his way to the editor’s chair in 2010. He earned this relatively quick promotion to editor by working to cut anything and everything he could get his hands on, from commercial client work to videos and short films he did in his own time.
Optimus EP/managing director Gretchen Praeger said of Schumacher, “He is a great fit for Optimus, especially during this exciting time as we expand our roster and anticipate our move to the Wrigley Building.”
Production and post house Optimus maintains offices in Chicago, Santa Monica, Calif., and New York.
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