PRETTYBIRD UK has signed 2021 UKMVA award-winning director Lucrecia Taormina. Her ascent as a director started in part when she earned the Best Pop Newcomer award at the 2019 UKMVA’s for her Tarantino-esque Ashnikko music video, making her the only female director to win an award that night. Taormina’s work has often gone viral, achieving public acclaim and garnering attention on the international awards circuit. She has won awards from the Kinsale Shark, Creative Circle, 1.4 and UKMVA competitions, as well as recognition at the Cannes Lions Young Directors Awards, and Ciclope Awards. Originally from Buenos Airies, Taormina moved to London’s Soho to study photography. Her studies led to a love of the moving image and enabled her to find her voice and aesthetic as a director. The recent work Taormina is most proud of is her music video for Ibeyi ft Jorja Smith–”Lavender & Red Roses”…
David Bell has been appointed to the board of directors at Ad.net. Bell brings to the L.A.-headquartered Ad.net his expertise in technology, media, marketing, and publishing, having spent his career advising the world’s largest advertisers and technology companies as they’ve scaled their businesses. Bell has over 40 years of advertising industry experience, having served as CEO for Bozell Worldwide, True North Communications, and The Interpublic Group. He is founder/chairman of Gyro, the independent global creative agency dedicated exclusively to business-to-business marketing, and served as an independent director of Madison Logic…Notably, he was senior advisor to AOL during its IPO, sale to Verizon and then Verizon’s acquisition of Yahoo. Mr. Bell was inducted into the Advertising Hall of Fame in 2007…..
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More