Director Raman Djafari has joined the Blinkink roster. To date, his work has amassed numerous Vimeo staff picks, an Annecy Crystal Award for best commissioned film, Animattikon best animated music video distinction, and best music video at La Guarimba 2020.
HAMLET–an international production company for branded film and video content, with offices in Brussels, Berlin and Shanghai–has signed comedy director Sebastien Petretti for European and Asian representation. A Belgian director with a reel of international work which speaks to a worldwide audience, Petretti has worked with global brands such as Samsung, Durex and Google.,,,
Production veteran Marni Luftspring has launched Feels Like Home, a Toronto-based production company. With decades of experience as a head of sales and executive producer (with Industry Films and Spy Films, among others), Luftspring has assembled a lineup of directors for representation in Canada, including Tamir Moscovici, Ryan Ebner, Rachel McDonald, Matt Manhire, Christina Hodnet, Lucas Dabrowski, Aaron Stoller, Cameron Harris, Trent Jacklitsch, the Big Red Button duo (Johnny Burns, Pier van Tijn) and Alex Franchi. Feels Like Home is already up and running, with a few projects having shot over the last few weeks: a campaign with FUSE Create helmed by Moscovici for Reel Start, a not-for-profit benefiting students in underrepresented communities who want to learn about film; a commercial for Maple Leaf through Sid Lee directed by Hodnet; and a piece directed by Manhire for The Garage, the creative workshop division of Feels Like Home….
Review: Writer-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s “Heretic”
"Heretic" opens with an unusual table setter: Two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labeled as large even though they're all pretty much a standard size. "What else do we believe because of marketing?" one asks the other.
That line will echo through the movie, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling unbalanced, this is the rare movie that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Our two church members — played fiercely by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East — are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty "Good afternoon!" He welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He's also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good.
Mr. Reed is, of course, if you've seen the poster, the baddie and he's played by Hugh Grant, who doesn't go the snarling, dead-eyed Hannibal Lecter route in "Heretic." Grant is the slightly bumbling, bashful and self-mocking character we fell in love with in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but with a smear of menace. He gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions.
"It's good to be religious," he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Homey touches in his home include a framed "Bless This Mess" needlepoint on a wall, but there are also oddities, like his lights are on a timer and there's metal in the walls and ceilings.
Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood — who also... Read More