London-based Four Hundred Films has been consolidated into the U.K. operation of bicoastal/international @radical.media. Coming under the @radical.media London banner are Four Hundred Films’ co-founder/managing director Caspar Delaney, and directors Stuart Douglas, Jon Hollis, Sharon Maguire and Gerald McMorrow….Word is that director Chris Hooper has departed bicoastal Tool of North America, and has joined bicoastal Bob Industries….Director Allen Martinez is set to join Hollywood-based Scream effective July 1. He comes over from Tate & Partners, Santa Monica….Director Kim Dempster and executive producer Meg Sudlik have launched Greenwich Films, New York….DDB New York has promoted executive producer Celia Williams to head of broadcast production.…Harley’s House, Santa Monica, has purchased Click 3X Los Angeles, also based in Santa Monica….Director/animator Stig Bergqvist has left Class-Key Chew-Po Commercials, a division of Hollywood-based animation house Klasky Csupo, and returned to Filmtecknarna Animation, Stockholm. Bergqvist, who is based in Los Angeles, co-founded Filmtecknarna (with director Jonas Odell and producer/CEO Lars Ohlson) and is part owner of the studio. Filmtecknarna is repped in North America by Curious Pictures, New York….Editor Jun Diaz has joined MacKenzie Cutler, New York.…Animation studio Wild Brain, San Francisco, has launched a Munich, Germany-based subsidiary: Wild Trixx Media GmbH, headed by managing director Curtis Briggs. The new venture will work on television and feature projects, as well as commercials…. Design director Vanessa Marzaroli has come aboard Blind Visual Propaganda, Santa Monica. She had been with Fuel, Santa Monica….
Review: Drew Hancock Makes Feature Directorial Debut With “Companion”
"Iris, wake up!"
Early in "Companion," lovely Iris and her nerdy-nice boyfriend Josh are driving to a secluded lake house for a stay with friends. Iris wakes from a nap and lovingly tells Josh she was dreaming about him. They reminisce about how they first met at the supermarket. All those oranges tumbling onto the floor! Ha ha.
In 20 minutes, absolutely everything about this sweet scene will be turned on its head in a terrifying and sinister manner. You will be surprised and shocked. Unless you saw the trailer, which reveals the whole thing.
And so we begin with a dilemma, dear moviegoer. "Companion," an exceedingly clever and entertaining sci-fi-horror-thriller-comedy by Drew Hancock in his feature debut, has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. But it's utterly impossible to write about the film without revealing the first of those twists.
So if you like coming in totally cold to a movie, then we're sorry to see you go, but stop reading! Otherwise, stay with us — we promise there'll be more surprises to come.
Moving on: Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid) arrive at the estate. A nervous Iris stops at the door, worried that Josh's friends won't like her. He urges her to simply brighten up and act happy.
Kat (Megan Suri), Josh's ex, greets them. She is gorgeous, and frosty to Iris. Eli (Harvey Guillén) and his handsome boyfriend Patrick (Lukas Gage) are nicer. Then there's Sergey (Rupert Friend), Kat's aloof Russian boyfriend — sugar daddy, really — and owner of the house. The password to his devices is Stalin's birthday, which tells you something.
Things get dark, quickly. The next morning, someone dies. They will not be the first — this is a horror movie. And suddenly Iris, caked in blood,... Read More