Eve Strickman has been appointed executive producer overseeing the NY studio of Not To Scale, an international film and animation content production company which also maintains shops in London and Amsterdam. Not To Scale was first established in London in 2005. A native New Yorker, Strickman previously worked as a freelance producer for Psyop and Buck, among other studios….
Director/DP Fergus Stothart has joined Los Angeles-based Wild Plum for commercial representation in the U.S. Born in Australia, Stothart grew up on a farm north of Sydney before spending his later childhood throughout Europe. He attended the Catalan Institute for Photography in Spain before moving to Copenhagen and jumpstarting his career in photography as an assistant. After establishing himself as a photographer in Scandinavia, he moved back to Barcelona where he quickly became one of Spain’s leading photographers, shooting for Volkswagen, Audi, Seat and Renault, among others. In 2005, Audi commissioned Stothart to direct his first television commercial. The progression was natural and he’s not looked back, creating films for clients like Coca-Cola, The Home Depot, Chrysler, Alpura, and The Canary Islands. Most recently, he completed a Microsoft spot with international soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, highlighting the brand’s ability to connect the world….
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