Cinematographer Jayson Crothers has finished shooting Season 5 of Chicago Fire (NBC). He is repped by The Martins Agency….
Tom Miller has been named VP of sales and marketing for VidOvation, manufacturer of video, audio, and data communications systems for the broadcast television and sports, corporate AV, and government markets. He joins as the company has moved to a larger headquarters facility in Lake Forest, Calif. Miller, though, will be based in New York City, responsible for continuing to expand VidOvation’s market share in North America. He reports directly to Jim Jachetta, VidOvation’s executive VP and chief technology officer. In his position before joining VidOvation, Miller served as director of sales for Siemens Convergence Creators, a Siemens division that offers a full-featured OTT solution. Over his 30-year career, he has held numerous other senior sales positions for broadcast and media technology companies: strategic account director for Front Porch Digital; director of sales for NeuLion; senior sales director, North America, for Civolution; VP of sales and business development, North America, for Thomson; and senior director of sales for Tandberg….
Dallas area-based software development company Rushworks, which provides TV production, automation and video streaming solutions, has hired Martin Cook as director of market development, international. Cook’s responsibilities include establishing and managing Rushworks international sales channel. He has already signed distributor agreements with Cache Media, an established supplier of broadcast and AV equipment headquartered in Newbury, UK, and AV Group Technologies, which provides technologically advanced hardware solutions in Australia and New Zealand. Cook earlier worked for industry leading manufacturers such as Grass Valley Group, Sony UK, Philips and BBC Technology in a number of management positions….
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