Bicoastal production company Honor Society has signed director Tim Abshire for U.S. commercial representation. With a character-driven approach to storytelling, he has helmed work for brands such as Google, Coca-Cola, PlayStation, ESPN, Febreze, VW, Taco Bell, E*TRADE and Kia. Abshire’s signature comedy dialogue style has earned him Cannes Lions, Clios, One Show Pencils, PromaxBDAs, and ADC Cubes. Abshire began his career in the on-air promos department of MTV. He quickly amassed a diverse skillset as a director, writer, editor and creative director while working on celebrity-filled campaigns for all of the network’s major shows. After 6 years of creating content and commercials for MTV, he shifted his focus to commercial directing, working with agencies around the globe on branded campaigns. Abshire comes over to Honor Society from Rabbit….L.A.-based production/post studio Golden–founded by Matthew Marquis and Jake Banks–has added director Justin Harder to its roster. Harder is a versatile maker who possesses an invaluable background in design; he will serve as both a commercial director and a creative director at Golden, and will continue to helm both the animation and live action spots for which he has become known. Harder had previously been repped by PRETTYBIRD in addition to a number of European companies. Although his reputation is grounded in motion graphic and live action spots, Harder continues to draw and derives deep satisfaction from designing a good logo; in fact, over 40 of his original designs are showcased in TASCHEN’s Logo Design Vol. 2. Recently, Harder designed and animated a vibrant montage to capture “The Story of Millennials” for Hulu….NY-based creative production company Derby has signed director Andrew Hardaway whose credits span such brands as HP, Lexus, Nissan and VW. For the latter, his “Moving Cities” work garnered a gold medal in execution from the Art Directors Club….
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More