Chromista, a commercial production company with bases of operation in New York and L.A., has signed Amsterdam-based agent Bart Hendrikx to handle sales in select territories. Bart Hendrikx Consultancy will rep Chromista in the EMEA (excluding the U.K.) and the APAC regions, for the production of traditional TV and online advertisements, series (streaming media), and long-form projects. Chromista’s directorial roster includes Darren Aronofsky, Eddie Alcazar, Marcelo Burgos, Josh Cole, Morgan Cooper, Kasra Farahani, Sarah Daggar-Nickson, Elliott Lester, Xavier Mairesse, Eliza McNitt, Dael Oates, Alessandro Pacciani, and Daniel Portrait. Oscar-nominated director (Black Swan) Aronofsky opened Chromista in May 2013 with EPs Scott Franklin, Ted Robbins and Sandy Haddad. The company has since taken on projects for The New York Times, Montefiore, P&G, and agencies such as Droga5, Ogilvy, Anomaly, BBDO, and DDB. Bart Hendrikx Consultancy was founded in 2017 by former Sonos, Heineken, and Ridley Scott consultant Hendrikx who was later joined by former in-house Google, Uber, and Casper recruiter Alexander Dengler. The Amsterdam-based representation firm is a natural choice for Chromista, with a multidisciplinary team drawn from a variety of creative and technology-driven backgrounds, including award-winning executive producers that will service Amsterdam with a Pan-European and Pan-APAC remit. Chromista is the latest signing to Hendrikx’s talent agency, who currently represents the global experience design studio Resn and Europe’s animation/VFX studio Sehsucht. …..
Tessa Films, a production company based in Chicago and L.A. headed by EPs/co-founders Lisa Masseur and Reid Brody, has appointed Veronica Lombardo of VLM to handle representation on the West Coast. VLM joins a Tessa national sales team that includes Ilene Silberman of Silberman Productions on the East Coast, Amy McIntyre of Beeline Representation in the Midwest, and Sharon Swanson and Perry Tongate of Sharon & Perry in Texas and the Southeast. In turn, Tessa joins a VLM roster that includes Alchemy X, Residency, FELLOW, kroma digital cosmetics® and Yessian Music….
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