Glassworks has added sr. producer Rebecca Johnson and sr. VFX supervisor and lead compositor Urs Furrer to its Amsterdam team. Originally from New Zealand, Johnson has built her career working with a variety of teams on CGI-heavy content for TV, film, and advertising. During her five years at The Mill in London, she helped lead an award-winning team of artists focused on sci-fi and character effects for projects such as Merlin, Primeval, and the critically acclaimed Doctor Who series. A trusted and sought-after freelancer from her time in Barcelona, Johnson recently produced several projects under the Glassworks Creative Studio umbrella, including the CGI and live-action "Small World" campaign for Samsung and the heartwarming character piece for Penny. Other projects produced by Johnson for Glassworks include the animated prologue for Universal Pictures’ Dolittle and the immersive VR experience, Symphony. Furrer first joined Glassworks in 2015 after relocating from Australia. He now returns to the Amsterdam team after a five-year stint at a52 in Los Angeles where he served as VFX supervisor and creative director. He has worked with clients such as Apple, Netflix, Toyota, Microsoft, Nissan, and Honda. Furrer's body of work includes five consecutive years of Super Bowl ads….
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