Creative content company Alkemy X has hired Eli Rotholz as VP of business development. He will be based in the company’s NY headquarters. Rotholz brings more than 12 years of sales/business development, strategy, and production experience, having begun his career as an independent sales rep for firms like Ziegler/Jakubowicz and Moustache NYC. From there, he worked in his first in-house position at Click 3X, where he built and managed a diverse roster of directorial talent, as well as the company’s first truly integrated production offering focusing on live-action, VFX/design/animation, and editorial. Rotholz then parlayed his passion for discovering and developing emerging talent with his vision for content creation to found Honor Society Films. He later joined Hone Production, a brand-direct-focused production company and consultancy, as director of business development/content EP….
VFX and creative studio Ntropic has appointed former head of production Ron Moon to lead business development in Los Angeles. In his new role, Moon will be responsible for expanding and deepening relationships with local agencies and brands. Moon began his advertising career directing fashion films and producing VFX for shops like Zoic and Logan, and brands such as Warner Bros., Nike, and Jaguar. In 2014, he joined Ntropic as sr. producer and quickly moved up the ranks to the L.A. studio’s head of production. Ntropic is represented by Strike Films on the East Coast…
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) has booked DP Craig Kief on the TV series The Kids Are Alright and costume designer Caroline Cranstoun on season two of the TV show Loudermilk….
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