Production company Rakish has promoted Chiara Useche to head of sales/creative producer, and secured Hereo Mgmt. and Nikki Weiss & Co. to handle West Coast and Midwest representation, respectively. Rakish continues to be repped on the East Coast by Barrie Isaacson Management. Useche, originally from Colombia, has a deep, diverse background in the industry including serving in roles which include advertising executive, EP and graphic designer….
Production house MADRE–headed by co-funder and managing director Jonathon Ker–has secured Anna Rotholz of Anna Rotholz Management and Nathan Skillicorn from Heart, Brains, and Nerve to handle representation, respectively, on the East Coast and in the Midwest….
KFC UK and Ireland has named Monica Pool, former marketing director at Taco Bell UK and Europe, as its new chief marketing officer. Pool will be taking over from Jenny Packwood–KFC’s chief corporate affairs & sustainability officer–who has been interim CMO since the departure of Jack Hinchliffe earlier this year. Pool started her journey with KFC South Africa in 2009, where she was integral in driving step-change advertising through innovative creative work. In 2012, she joined KFC UK and Ireland’s marketing team in innovation, before being promoted to marketing director. Having joined Taco Bell in 2020, Pool has grown the brand health of the business, increasing media and marketing effectiveness to bolster sales, while dealing with a range of complex issues facing the QSR sector. She has also championed the franchisee model, working collaboratively with business owners to help grow and support their businesses and those in developing markets. Pool will rejoin KFC UK and Ireland as CMO in early autumn 2023….
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