Director Joe Murray has come aboard the roster of Rhythm + Hues Commercial Studios. He was most recently handled by Boxer Films for commercials.
In that he is adept at live action and effects–and in meshing the two disciplines without losing the human element in his storytelling–Murray dovetails nicely with R+H, a digital studio encompassing live-action and animation directors, visual effects, design and postproduction services.
On the ad front, Murray has directed beauty, sports, and music talent including Jane Seymour, Cindy Crawford, Greg Norman, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Petty, Celine Dion, Aretha Franklin, and Randy Travis, while his client list spans Acura, Budweiser, Calloway Golf, Ford, Gatorade, General Motors, General Mills, MacGregor Sports, Lexus, Polaris, and Procter & Gamble. He has also diversified into long-form with projects for Warner Bros., Lucasfilm and HBO over the years.
Murray said he was attracted to R+H’s creative talent, technical resources and expertise, and track record for problem solving and collaboration. But he cited as a prime draw R+H’s penchant for human-based storytelling.
“My point of view, no matter the project, has always been to emphasize the humanity and emotion and story elements in front of the lens,” related Murray. “In the past few years, we’ve experienced a highly accelerated evolvement in all of the technology we utilize to tell our stories from the point where the back of that lens ends; from the camera body all the way through the postproduction and delivery process. When Paul [Babb, R+H’s exec producer] called and offered me the opportunity to work with him and the many talented people at Rhythm and Hues I couldn’t resist as they have been at the forefront of this revolution without losing sight of the human story and the emotions and responsive chord we speak to in creating our images.”
Recent commercial projects at R+H include Activision, Budweiser, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Crayola, Electronic Arts, Hartford, Kellogg’s, Mattel, Microsoft X-Box, Miller Beer, Nasonex, Quaker State, Tide, and Ubisoft. Film Division credits include an Oscar® for Achievement in Visual Effects for Golden Compass in 2008. Recently produced theatrical movie projects include Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, and The Wolfman. Films currently in production include The A Team, The Cabin In The Woods, Little Fockers, Marmaduke, and Yogi Bear.
Harris Dickinson Toys With Ambiguity In “Babygirl” While Keeping a Secret From Nicole Kidman
Harris Dickinson was nervous to approach Nicole Kidman.
This would not necessarily be notable under normal circumstances, but the English actor had already been cast to star opposite her in the erotic drama "Babygirl," as the intern who initiates an affair with Kidman's buttoned-up CEO. They'd had a zoom with the writer-director Halina Reijn, who was excited by their playful banter and sure that Dickinson would hold his own. And yet when he found himself at the same event as Kidman, shyness took over. He admitted as much to Margaret Qualley, who took things into her own hands and introduced them.
"She helped me break the ice a bit," Dickinson said in a recent interview.
On set would be an entirely different story. Dickinson might not be nearly as "puckishly audacious" as his character Samuel but in the making of "Babygirl," he, Kidman and Reijn had no choice but to dive fearlessly into this exploration of sexual power dynamics, going to intimate, awkward, exhilarating and meme-able places. It's made the film, in theaters Christmas Day, one of the year's must-sees.
"There was an unspoken thing that we adhered to," Dickinson said. "We weren't getting to know each other's personal lives. When we were working and we were the characters, we didn't veer away from the material. I never tried to attach all of the history of Nicole Kidman. Otherwise it probably would have been a bit of a mess."
His is a performance that reconfirms what many in the film world have suspected since his debut seven years ago as a Brooklyn tough questioning his sexuality in Eliza Hittman's "Beach Rats": Dickinson is one of the most exciting young talents around.
Dickinson, 28, grew up in Leytonstone, in East London — the same neck of the woods as... Read More