Bicoastal indie production company Hey Wonderful, headed by founder/managing partner Michael Di Girolamo, has signed on Fox-Mills to represent its directorial roster on the East Coast. The talent firm is led by founder Philip Fox-Mills and partner Jake Strom. Fox-Mills spent 13 years as an executive producer at RSA Films before founding the rep firm in 2016, while Strom’s experience includes staff positions at both Furlined and ICM. Hey Wonderful continues to be repped by Shortlist on the West Coast, Wry Wit in the Midwest, and Darling Films in the U.K….
Music/sound house Shindig in Play Del Rey, Calif., has secured new representation on the West Coast and in the Midwest. Handling the latter market will be Maureen Butler of Mo Butler Reps. Meanwhile on the West Coast, Shindig will be working with Deirdre Rymer at Blush Creative and Lisa Gimenez at Lisa G. & Co. Scott Glenn is creative director and Debbi Landon serves as EP at Shindig….
Dattner Dispoto and Associates (DDA) has signed DPs Michael Bonvillain and Richard Henkels, production designer Anastasia Masaro and editor Hugh Ross for representation. On the feature front, DDA has booked DP Jayson Crothers on Axis Sally, production designer Deana Sidney on Trick, and costume designer Nadine Haders on Run Sweetheart Run and The Water Man. On the TV side, DDA has booked DP Niels Alpert on Wu Tang: An American Saga, and both DP Magni Agustsson and production designer Toni Barton on the pilot for Stumptown….
Broadcast Pix has brought Rhett Mappin on board as a regional sales manager, overseeing the Southeast and Central U.S., as well as the Caribbean, Mexico and Central Canada. Mappin is based out of the greater Atlanta metropolitan area. As a technology sales professional, Mappin has more than 30 years of experience in the media and entertainment industry. He has served as a regional sales manager for Telestream, Vizrt, Discreet, and Pinnacle Systems, and most recently was VP of sales for ONE CONNXT…
Riedel Communications has appointed industry vet Rich Zabel as VP of sales for North America. Zabel will take the helm of the entire sales organization and also focus on expanding Riedel’s presence in key vertical markets. Zabel joins Riedel from Evertz Microsystems, where he was director of sales, Northeast and strategic accounts. He also previously served as director of sales, Eastern region, for Grass Valley, and as VP, sports and live events, for Imagine Communications….
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