Multicultural agency commonground has brought veteran producer Brendan O’Malley on board as executive producer of both broadcast and digital across all businesses in New York. Prior to joining commonground, O’Malley ran his own graphics production company and has spent the last three years on an extended assignment producing TV, radio and Internet content for the Asian/American market for Verizon and Subaru. He spent 18 years as sr. partner/executive producer at Ogilvy NY creating award winning work on several blue-chip brands including American Express, Miller Lite, Maxwell House Coffee, Post Cereals, NYNEX, Dove, SAP and Delta. A Brooklyn-born native, O’Malley got started in advertising at Young & Rubicam NY after graduating from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Cinematography. O’Malley has worked as an art director, copywriter, film director and producer. He is a voting member of the Directors Guild and the Emmys. Additionally, O’Malley has produced advertising work that has won Cannes Lions, ADDY’s, One Show, Clio’s, Effies, 3AF and is Emmy nominated….Director John Poliquin has joined Hiccup Media, the hybrid creative strategy, content production and post house founded in 2006 by former agency producer Rob Simone and editor/director Michael Cruz. Fashion/lifestyle helmer Poliquin’s credits include Urban Outfitters, Diet Coke, Burberry and H&M. Poliquin is also known for his music video work, which includes a 2012 Juno Award win. He also directed the 2011 found-footage horror film Grave Encounters and its 2012 sequel Grave Encounters 2, as well as shot videos for “The Next Star,” a popular talent show airing on the youth-oriented Canadian television network YTV….Flame artist Chris DeCristo has joined Los Angeles-based digital production and design company Timber as Lead Flame. DeCristo has amassed a broad body of work over his many years in production and VFX. He has freelanced for visual effects and design studios before landing at Timber, including Superfad, Digital Domain, Method and Psyop. During that time he lent his talents to numerous advertising campaigns for brands including Sony, IBM, Hyundai, Kia, HP, Lexus, Bacardi and Nike. Prior to his time freelancing, DeCristo cut his teeth at CBS Digital (CBS Television) where he worked for 12 years, nine of which were as a VFX supervisor/flame artist. He became a sr, Flame artist in 2001 and went on to supervise many top TV shows, including Touched By an Angel, X-Files and The Sopranos, and was twice nominated for an Emmy….
Review: Steven Soderbergh’s Eerie Haunted House Drama “Presence”
The camera is the ghost in Steven Soderbergh's chillingly effective, experiential haunted house drama "Presence." The filmmaker traps the audience in a beautiful suburban home, letting us drift through rooms with this curious being, in and out of delicate conversations as we (and the ghost) try to piece together a puzzle blindly.
Often in haunted house movies where a new family moves in and starts sensing strange things, the ghost knows exactly what they want — usually their house back. In this one, the presence doesn't have such a clear objective. It's more confused, wandering around and investigating the surroundings, like a benevolent amnesiac. Occasionally, though, big emotions erupt, and things shake violently.
Mostly, they go unnoticed. They observe the chipper real estate agent (Julia Fox) preparing for a showing, the painting crew, one of whom believes there's something around, and finally the family and all the complexities of its dynamics. Lucy Liu (a delightful, wickedly funny scene-stealer) is the mom, Rebecca, a wealthy, successful, type-A woman hyper focused on the success of her eldest, a teenage boy named Tyler (Eddy Maday). The father, Chris (Chris Sullivan), is more of the nurturer, concerned about their teen daughter Chloe (Callina Liang) in the aftermath of her friend's unexpected death.
There is a family drama transpiring inside the house, only some of which will make sense in the end. We overhear Rebecca drunkenly telling Tyler that everything she does is for him. We listen in as Chris confides to someone on the phone about a hypothetical partner being involved in something illegal and whether they still would be if legally separated. We see Tyler often with his head buried in his phone. And then there's Chloe: Sad,... Read More