Bicoastal production company Imposter has opened under the aegis of exec producer Avtar Khalsa. Joining her will be Alexis Celic as head of production and Alex Brinkman as producer. The shop has a talent roster which includes directing collective Kinopravda, Sergi Castellà, Thomas Ralph, Robin Comisar, Josh Borock, Justin Tyler Close, and Andrew Nisinson. Khalsa has some 15 years of experience producing for directors such as Marielle Heller, Karim Huu Do, and Kat Keene as well as running her company Baby Panther. Imposer is repped by Uncle Lefty on the East Coast, Shortlist MGMT on the West, and Baer Brown in the Midwest….
Visual and narrative director Anthony Pietromonaco has found a home at Seed Media Arts, the shop headed by owner/EP Roy Skillicorn. Motivated by the belief that in order to be an effective director required practical experience, Pietromonaco worked his way up from PA and grip to camera operator, cinematographer, editor, VFX artist and producer before combining these successful pursuits toward his current path as a writer/director. The L.A.-based Pietromonaco has directed for assorted clients including Porsche, Peroni, Nordstrom, Verizon, Samsung MasterCard, Droid, and Motorola…..
Creative agencies Leroy & Clarkson and Anatomy have merged. The move brings Anatomy founder and network branding creative Mark Valentine to Leroy & Clarkson as chief creative officer. Valentine will work alongside Kate Hillis, owner/CEO, who has led Leroy & Clarkson since 2014. The newly combined NY-based company will operate under the Leroy & Clarkson banner. The capabilities of the new venture include 360 advertising campaigns, brand identity and design systems, brand strategy and positioning, motion graphics, creative editorial, live-action production, branded content, key art, writing, live events and experiential design. Valentine began his career in the early 1990s at CNBC where he established the network’s on-air promo department before joining entertainment branding agency Lee Hunt Associates as creative director. In 2000, he founded Anatomy where he oversaw award-winning show launches, large scale Upfront presentations and global television campaigns for a diverse range of clients. Leroy & Clarkson was launched in 2001, turning out projects for such clients as USA Network, SyFy, Cooking Channel, Fuse, History, Lifetime and A&E. Hillis joined the company in 2010 as managing director/CFO, and acquired the company in 2014. Some recent standout projects include work for National Geographic Channel, NBCUniversal, AMC, ABC News, The Rockefeller Foundation, TNT, Nasdaq, Lifetime, and PBS. Prior to Leroy & Clarkson, Hillis produced documentaries including the three-time Webby Award winner and highly acclaimed “Hometown Baghdad,” depicting the rarely seen lives of young Iraqi men trying to lead normal lives within a city at war….
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