Bicoastal Shilo has added Daniel Cohen to its directorial roster for worldwide representation outside the U.K., where he continues to be represented by Aardman Animations.
A native and resident of London who recently relocated to New York City, from an early age, Cohen dreamt of a life in the creative industry. Initially he focused on being a sculptor, which led to him building miniature sets and animating them. He was accepted into film school but left after a year to join Graham Fink's production company thefinktank as a runner in 2003. As the now-famous story goes, one day a script came in for Fink that Cohen took an interest in and secretly wrote a treatment for. Fink liked it and submitted Cohen's treatment as his own. The agency awarded him the job, at which point Fink came clean and told them that it was actually a young office runner who would love to direct the commercial. They agreed and that live-action project for Nelson Mandela's READ charity won Cohen the Creative Circle's Best Newcomer Award in 2004, setting him firmly on his own path as an emerging director.
Through late 2006, he directed commercials and short films involving live-action and animation for thefinktank and many major brands and agencies, some of which he wrote himself, like his RMCC short which earned a Gold ADDY Award. He then spent three very productive years on the roster of Th1ng, followed by two more years with HLA, before landing with Aardman Animations. Cohen's signature style has been seen in campaigns for Amnesty International, Hellmanns, Hovis and many others, including a 2012 British Arrow Craft Award-shortlisted cross-media campaign for Bullring Shopping Centre.
Cohen said he was drawn to Shilo's work, marked by its broad range of mixed media. Jose Gomez, Shilo's owner and director, described Cohen's filmmaking style as "very handcrafted and whimsical. I really love how his work is clever and witty. As we expand our roster of artful and design-driven directors Daniel is the perfect fit for Shilo to expand our offerings."
Review: Writer-Director Mark Anthony Green’s “Opus”
In the new horror movie "Opus," we are introduced to Alfred Moretti, the biggest pop star of the '90s, with 38 No. 1 hits and albums as big as "Thriller," "Hotel California" and "Nebraska." If the name Alfred Moretti sounds more like a personal injury attorney from New Jersey, that's the first sign "Opus" is going to stumble.
John Malkovich leans into his regular off-kilter creepy to play the unlikely pop star at the center of this serious misfire by the A24 studio, a movie that also manages to pull "The Bear" star Ayo Edebiri back to earth. How both could be totally miscast will haunt your dreams.
Writer-director Mark Anthony Green has created a pretty good premise: A massive pop star who went quiet for the better part of three decades reemerges with a new album — his 18th studio LP, called "Caesar's Request" — and invites a select six people to come to his remote Western compound for an album listening weekend. It's like a golden ticket.
Edebiri's Ariel is a one of those invited. She's 27, a writer for a hip music magazine who has been treading water for three years. She's ambitious but has no edge. "Your problem is you're middle," she's told. Unfortunately, her magazine boss is also invited, which means she's just a note-taker. Edebiri's self-conscious, understated humor is wasted here.
It takes Ariel and the rest of the guests — an influencer, a paparazzo, a former journalist-nemesis and a TV personality played by Juliette Lewis, once again cast as the frisky sexpot — way too much time to realize that Moretti has created a cult in the desert. And they're murderous. This is Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous" crossed with Mark Mylod's "The Menu."
It's always a mistake to get too close a look at the monster in a horror... Read More