Experiential advertising agency Momentum Worldwide is expanding its sports sponsorship expertise with the naming of Parisa Howard as Verizon Sports Partnerships lead and NFL expert, who joins from Octagon. Howard was appointed in June before taking maternity leave, and now takes up her role with immediate effect. Based in New York, Howard brings a wealth of agency and sporting experience, having formerly worked at the NFL, Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. In her new role at Momentum, Howard will lead strategic planning and execution of Verizon’s NFL partnerships. Howard joins at an exciting time in the NFL season, with the playoffs beginning in mid-January and the Super Bowl around the corner. She has previously worked with a variety of clients, including Snickers, Honeywell, MGM Resorts, Sprint, Papa John’s, Intel, Dannon, Meijer, as well as Johnson & Johnson and its consumer brands. The agency’s sport offering is led by Sampson Yimer, SVP sponsorship consulting at Momentum Worldwide, with Howard reporting into Melissa Misiak, EVP, group account director, North America….
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