Creative film company Farm League has secured indie firm David & Sam–consisting of David Wagner and Sam Sloma–to handle representation in the Midwest. Farm League, with bases of operation in Venice and Thousand Oaks, Calif., has an extensive track record of collaboration with major brands and agencies in the Midwest–like Ford, Chevrolet, Red Wing, GTB, and Leo Burnett….
VersusGame, an AI-powered interactive content company, has appointed marketing industry veteran Scott Donaton as chief marketing officer, and Elliot Solomon as VP of business development. The addition of these strategic leaders to the Versus team comes at a pivotal time for the company, as it continues to accelerate its interactive content offerings via its proprietary AI engine to drive engagement, retention, and incremental value for partners across sports, entertainment, news, search, and social. In his role as CMO, Donaton will oversee all marketing functions for Versus, including brand strategy, communications, content, social media and consumer insights. Prior to joining Versus, Donaton most recently served as chief marketing officer at Hulu, where he helped grow the streaming service from 30 million to 48 million paid subscribers and introduced the streaming industry’s first branded entertainment practice. Previously, Donaton served as global chief creative & content officer at Digitas. Solomon, a seasoned executive specializing in business growth and strategy within emerging technologies such as video games, virtual reality, machine learning and creator ecosystems, will lead all aspects of business development for Versus, including innovation, content monetization, and partner success management. Over his 20-year career, Solomon has built and led sales and business development teams at industry places like Disney, Snap, and Unity Technologies…..
Arista Records has promoted Kathryn Sullivan to VP of marketing. She will continue to report to head of marketing Sharon Timure. Based in New York, Sullivan has been with the team since the re-launch of the label working across Grammy-nominated projects from Måneskin and JP Saxe as well as Luke Hemmings, Beach Weather and more. Prior to her five years at Arista, she got her touring credentials working across event production at CID Entertainment and was a founding member of PRMD Music/At Night Management’s U.S. presence where she oversaw releases for Avicii, Cazzette and others….
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More