United Entertainment Group (UEG), a global entertainment, sports and lifestyle marketing agency, has launched its first-ever offering in Asia. Industry veteran Toru Fumihara has been hired as the managing director of UEG’s new office in Tokyo, which will serve as a hub for the Asian marketplace. UEG is expanding its global footprint into the fast-growing Japanese market as the city prepares to host two of the biggest sporting events in the world, the Rugby World Cup in 2019 and the Olympic Games in 2020. This marks the third international office the agency has opened in the span of one year, starting with London in 2017 and Hamburg, Germany earlier in 2018. Fumihara brings more than 20 years of relevant experience to UEG’s new Asia offering. He has a robust background in sports marketing, talent and influencer engagement, and sponsorship activation from his work at Red Bull and Hakuhodo, Japan’s second-largest advertising agency. Fumihara will report directly to Mary Scott, president of Global Integrated Communications, who UEG has appointed to oversee the operation and growth of the Asia offering from UEG’s New York headquarters. Scott brings more than 25 years of global experience building businesses and guiding brands through global sponsorships and platforms including throughout 10 Olympic Games.
San Francisco-based creative agency Eleven, Inc. has promoted Gary Stein, Monique Verrier, Chad Leitz, and Eric Lombardi to associate partners. Leitz will continue to serve as creative director on clients such as Google Cloud. Stein oversees activation and analytics. Verrier is responsible for agency resourcing and oversees the shop’s IP group. Lombardi oversees client health and is business director on both Pella and Dignity Health. Leitz and Lombardi report directly to Mike McKay, Eleven’s chief creative officer. Stein and Verrier report to Courtney Beuchert, Eleven’s CEO…..
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More