Creative studio Aggressive has expanded into a bigger collective: Loop, Niceshit, Andrey Trevgoda, and Melody Maker have come aboard, joining the company’s founders Alex Topaller and Daniel Shapiro. Loop is a multidisciplinary collective specializing in creative and art direction, visual storytelling, and motion design. Its portfolio includes cutting-edge videos for Adidas, and data-inspired projects for Intel, as well as cinematic and atmospheric opening sequences for Amazon’s Inside The Boys. Barcelona-based trio Niceshit consists of Carmen Angelillo, Guido Lambertini, and Rodier Kidmann, turning out illustration and animation work that’s notable for its playful character design, bold colors, and humorous narratives–from elegant line-driven projects for Google and Offline CBD, to complex 2D mixed with 3D pieces like The Feelings or live-action driven Shoe Show. Creative commercial and music video director Trevgoda uses his visual language to solve communication problems over multi-format media for brands such as VICE, TikTok, and Nestlé. Melody Maker started out styling artists like M.I.A., Rihanna, and Iggy Azalea before joining the cult youth brand BOY London as creative director. A veteran of The Mill, Melody has to her credit music videos for Gorgon City and Greentea Peng, the gravity-defying Oppo “Shake,” as well as films for clients such as Logitech, Gillette and Herbal Essences. Topaller and Shapiro teamed as a duo to garner Grammy, MTV VMA, The One Show and D&AD awards recognition. Their experiences have been exhibited at SXSW, Global Expo Dubai and The UN General Assembly….
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More