New York-based Bunker has signed director Meeto for exclusive representation in the U.S. Already at his new roost he is helming a U.S. campaign for an undisclosed client out of agency Johannes Leonardo. Meeto has worked for brands including Coca-Cola, Reebok, Philips, Absolut and Mikkeller. His work has won numerous awards, including a Silver Young Director award from Cannes and a Gold from Kinsale….
Multidisciplinary content creation studio AFX Creative has brought executive producer Nicole Fina to its Santa Monica, Calif. studio. Her appointment was made by Mark Leiss, AFX creative founder and managing director. Most recently the EP of advertising & games at Digital Domain, Fina has also held key producing roles at MPC, Psyop, Method Studios, Troika, and Grey Worldwide. She has helped bring to life narratives for brands including Google, Apple, Nike, NFL, Adidas and BMW. Her breadth of work includes global campaigns, music videos, holograms for live events, longer-form narratives and key content for the Academy Awards and Super Bowl–along the way garnering honors across the Cannes Lions, Emmy Awards, AICP, VES, HPA, and the Tellys. Most notably, Fina has led projects for Starz’s Golden Globe-nominated television series Outlander, the Northstar short film for the Apex Legends video game, along with the “A Storm Is Coming” trailer for the Ghost of Tsushima video game. The latter was honored with a nomination for Outstanding Virtual Cinematography in a CG Project at the VES Awards….
Branding and experience design agency handsome has brought Stephanie Maillet aboard as its new head of people. She has a varied background in agency and creative resource management as well as people and talent management. Maillet began her career at Arnold Worldwide as the assistant to the executive creative director of Volkswagen. Soon, she found herself to be the confidant and advocate for many of the creatives at the agency, eventually becoming the creative manager. She moved on to become the global resource manager at EPAM Continuum in Boston, where she focused on forming internal workshops touching on everything from feedback to presentation skills to unconscious bias. Maillet is also a certified CTI professional coach and draws a tremendous sense of pride from putting together a team and helping others learn valuable skills. She plans to apply those experiences to handsome, where her responsibilities include recruiting and onboarding, team allocation, learning, development and culture. As she takes on her new role, Maillet has identified some key areas that she hopes to tackle first, including building a more diverse talent pool, creating training and development programs for all levels of the organization, and establishing an inclusive, communicative environment for a rapidly expanding team….
“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