Alkemy X has hired Rupert Cresswell as creative director. He will work closely with executive producer Eve Ehrich to continue to build the company’s design and animation team, working across branded and entertainment projects.
Cresswell comes to Alkemy X from MPC, where he spent nearly eight years as a director and creative director working on projects for clients such as Adidas, Samsung, Jaguar, Ford, Google, Sky One and Fox Searchlight. His stylized work is characterized by a meticulous eye for design and a subtle fusion of live action and visual effects to augment the everyday with fantastic elements. Cresswell’s first narrative short, Charlie Cloudhead, starring Paul Higgins and Daisy Haggard, enjoyed a successful international festival run. His work has garnered numerous awards and accolades and he has been tapped as a thought leader, speaking at industry conferences including IBC, PromaxBDA and SIGGRAPH.
London-born Cresswell studied graphic design and illustration at the prestigious University of the Arts London, organically navigating into the advertising arena after landing his first professional gig as a runner at a SoHo post shop. He quickly immersed himself in the industry, rapidly amassing hands-on experience in the broadcast promo space working for clients such as Bloomberg, NatGeo and Sky before stepping into the role of director. He joined MPC London in 2012, helming VFX-driven spots for clients while refining his aesthetic at the intersection of design, visual effects and live action. He stepped up to a creative director role when he moved to MPC’s New York location in 2017.
Alkemy X maintains offices in NY, Philadelphia, L.A. and Amsterdam.
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