Los Angeles-based production company Raucous Content, under the aegis of owner/EP Steve Wi, has lined up a new business development and sales team consisting of indie reps Irma Rodriguez of In House Reps on the West Coast, Chiara Chung and Gunder Kehoe of CCCo in the Midwest, and Denise Blate Roederer and Lark Liedtke of RHODA on the East Coast….
StrawberryFrog–the independent strategy, marketing, advertising, and design agency under the aegis of founder and CEO Scott Goodson–has hired Rasika Narang as its chief growth officer. In this newly created position for the company, Narang will apply over 15 years of experience as a growth driver and proven innovator to lead marketing, new business development and digital innovation for the firm. Narang’s experience includes leadership roles at Ogilvy, where during her 16 years there she built and grew brands such as IBM, SAP, Lenovo, Philips and DuPont. She was also a key contributor in establishing the agency’s performance marketing practice. More recently she held the role of SVP, brand and growth marketing at programmatic media company, Viant Technology, and in January of this year she joined the board of directors of the American Marketing Association. Narang is based in StrawberryFrog’s New York office….
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