Worldwide influencer marketing agency and tech platform Obviously, headquartered in New York, has acquired the influencer marketing division of French talent agency ZAM. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Céline Saint-Rémy, ZAM co-founder and CEO, joins Obviously in the new role of directeur general France and Europe, reporting directly to Obviously founder and CEO Mae Karwowski, and co-founder and CTO Maxime Domain. Saint-Rémy will lead the Obviously operations in France and all of Europe, further building out their global suite of offerings. Obviously’s revenue more than doubled in 2018 from 2017, and headcount tripled. Saint-Rémy brings top talent from ZAM to Obviously, recruiting Lucas Graves in the new role of director business development and sales, and Estelle Durguerian as operations director, where she will lead campaign implementation. At ZAM Graves was business developer since 2018 and Durguerian was operations director since 2017. Obviously also maintains offices in Sydney, San Francisco and Los Angeles……
Director Hasraf “HaZ” Dulull has signed with 1stAveMachine and The Gotham Group for representation in all areas. Dulull, coming off directing the pilot for Disney’s action comedy miniseries Fast Layne, was also credited as creative consultant on the entire series and directed three additional episodes. Dulull is known for his breakout sci-fi indie feature film The Beyond, which was released by Gravitas Ventures, and premiered at #2 on the iTunes charts before trending on Netflix. His second feature film 2036: Origin Unknown, which starred Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica), earned a theatrical release in the U.S. Dulull began his career as a VFX artist on films such as The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2, as well as shows like America: The Story of the US. Dulull is also repped by APA and Darren Trattner at Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein, and is the co-founder of production company Haz Film….
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