Production company Superprime has signed filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist Sam Taylor-Johnson to its roster for commercial representation in the U.S.
Taylor-Johnson began her career exhibiting fine art and then creating multi-screen video works, winning the Venice Biennale’s Illy Café Prize for Most Promising Young Artist and receiving a nomination for the Turner Prize. She launched her career as a filmmaker with her John Lennon biopic, Nowhere Boy, which premiered at the London Film Festival, screened at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for two BAFTA Awards. She directed the Sundance Film Festival-winning short, Love You More, which also earned BAFTA and Cannes Palme d’Or nominations. Her film adaptation of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Gray broke numerous box office records and earned more than $550 million worldwide.
Most recently, Taylor-Johnson completed the film adaptation of James Frey’s memoir, A Million Little Pieces. The film, which stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Billy Bob Thornton, and Charlie Hunnam, premiered at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival and will be released in November 2019.
Prior to joining Superprime, Taylor-Johnson was repped in the ad arena by production company Hey Wonderful. Her commercial clients have included Givenchy, H&M, and Chanel and she has directed music videos for artists including The Weeknd, Elton John, and REM.
Rebecca Skinner, managing director of Superprime, described Taylor-Johnson as “a beautiful addition to the roster,” citing her “visual sensibility and ability to tell a story.”
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