Design and animation studio Two Fresh Creative has added business development executive Victoria Venantini. Her appointment comes on the heels of the studio expanding its creative space in Santa Monica, Calif. Venantini will focus on gaming and direct-to-brand opportunities for Two Fresh in close partnership with the company’s East Coast commercial sales team, indie firm Carolyn Reps. Having worked with such gaming brands as EA, Activision Blizzard, Microsoft, and Ubisoft, Venantini aligns well with Two Fresh Creative’s mission to make a more concerted push into the gaming space in 2020. During her career spanning production, sales, and business development, Venantini has represented numerous companies, including Beast Editorial, Smoke & Mirrors, and Moxie Pictures. She went on to become a key player in the launch of long-running shop PS260, before focusing her career as a sales rep at CAM MGMT, Holbrook MGMT, Free Agents–and in-house at RSA Films. Eventually, she went in-house at The Mill leading direct-to-brand and gaming opportunities for the West Coast office. In addition to her new position at Two Fresh, Venantini continues to run her own business development and sales consultancy for creative companies, VVM. Two Fresh initially opened shop playing to its strengths in motion design and character-driven animation for commercials and branded content. Year two introduced clients like ABC, Netflix, NBC, Fox, Facebook, and Snapchat to its full-service capabilities in branding, high-end graphic packages, rebrands, and in-show graphics. The studio has since naturally segued into the world of gaming, having completed projects for Riot Games, Faceit, The Game Awards 2019, and B-Site’s new Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Esports league, Flashpoint…..
The Embassy, a VFX and production studio headquartered in Vancouver, B.C., has extended its reach to the U.S. with the opening of an office in L.A. As part of its expansion, The Embassy has fortified its U.S. sales team with indie reps Sarah Gitersonke handling the Midwest while Kelly Flint and Sarah Lange cover the East Coast….
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