Directors Mary Boss and Hernan Otano have signed with Maysles Shorts for representation. The New York shop is the commercialmaking division of Maysles Films....
Directors Mary Boss and Hernan Otano have signed with Maysles Shorts for representation. The New York shop is the commercialmaking division of Maysles Films….Andy Lomas has been named head of CG at Framestore CFC, London. This marks his return engagement at the effects house, having earlier served in such capacities as senior animator and head of 3D animation. Most recently he was head of character effects at DreamWorks…. Richard Nelson, formerly of MPC, London, is set to join Absolute, London, as 3D FX supervisor, effective June 29. He has worked on such notable spots as director Dougal Wilson’s “Work & Play” for Vodafone, and Pleix’s “Letters” for Audi…..Farmington Hills, Mich.-based hdstudios has added senior editor/Flame artist Tom Fulks, who most recently spent 10 years at Crawford Communications, Atlanta, as a senior effects editor….Dex Deboree has joined bicoastal production house The Ebeling Group as executive producer. He will work closely with company owner/exec producer Mick Ebeling. Deboree formerly served as a producer at Los Angeles-based editorial house Rock Paper Scissors….New York-based graphic and post studio Creative Bubble has formally launched an interactive production sister shop, Creative Broadband. The new venture–launched in response to client demand for Web-based advertising and marketing solutions–has brought on design director Lisa Kwon to work closely with technology director Sanjiv Mody and senior producer Amy Beer….
Review: Director Jake Kasdan’s “Red One”
Ah, the Christmas movie. That old chestnut. That cozy perennial pastime where — let's just pick one scene from "Red One" — Dwayne Johnson, playing Santa's body guard, faces off with a witch-possessed mercenary (Nick Kroll) and ice-sword-wielding CGI snowmen on the sandy beaches of Aruba. Can't you just taste the eggnog?
Such are the ugly-sweater clashes of "Red One," a big-budget gambit to supersize the Christmas movie. Countless movies before have wrestled with who Santa is. Does he really exist? But "Red One" is the first one to answer doubters with a superhero-like St. Nick who runs his North Pole operation like the army, who bench presses and counts carbs and who, given that he's played by J.K. Simmons, looks like he could teach one heck of a jazz class.
There is ample time during "Red One," which opens in theaters Thursday, to ponder who, exactly, put a Marvel-ized Santa on their wish list. The movie, directed by the "Jumanji" reboot filmmaker Jake Kasdan and scripted by the veteran "Fast & Furious" screenwriter Chris Morgan, was conceived by producer Hiram Garcia as the start of a holiday franchise for Amazon MGM Studios — presumably to satisfy those who have pined for a Christmas movie but with, you, know, more military industrial complex.
"Red One," which is brightened by its other A-list star, Chris Evans, is a little self-aware about its own inherent silliness. But not nearly enough. There is a better, funnier movie underneath all the CGI gloss. But overwhelmed by effects and overelaborate world building (there are trolls, ogres and a headless horsemen here, all loosely connected as mythical creatures), "Red One" feels like an unwanted high-priced Christmas present.
"I love the kids. It's the grown-ups that are... Read More