Directorial team Anthony Atanasio and Valerie Martinez had joined MTh (Motion Theory)’s commercial roster for U.S. representation. Since teaming up in 2004 after Atanasio’s debut in the Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors Showcase at Cannes, Atanasio and Martinez have emerged as an award-winning pair, creating work for top brands including Nintendo, Nike, Audi, Levis, McDonald’s, Budweiser, General Motors and Toyota….BRW USA, Los Angeles, has signed directing duo The Salto Brothers, Louie and Jesse, for U.S. commercial representation. The pair has built a reel of European spots for Audi, Ubisoft, Toyota, Nissan and L’Oreal, among others. Additionally, they have helmed music videos for the likes of Snoop Dogg and Elijah Harris, and directed several branded and non-branded short films…Miles Jay has joined B-Reel for U.S., U.K. and Scandinavia representation, and will be based in the company’s LA office. Jay co-created the first Facebook Connect music video for Young Empires titled “White Doves,” and later created the interactive short film “Carly’s Caf�,” which this year won him the Young Director Award at Cannes Lions 2012….
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