TMA (The Marketing Arm) has made a couple of talent moves on the executive leadership front, bringing Rick Utzinger aboard as an executive creative director and appointing Erin Wasson, currently EVP of growth and development, to serve as EVP, managing director.
Utzinger arrives at TMA following his work at BBDO LA, where he contributed to the AT&T business. Prior to that, he was an ECD with Fallon in Minneapolis handling Arby’s, Silk, Samsung and Cooper Tires, among other clients and brands. He also served as a creative director at both David&Goliath and TBWAChiatDay in Los Angeles. Utzinger has been recognized by Cannes, D&AD, The One Show and Clios for his work on Arby’s, Toyota, New Directions for Homeless Veterans, Miller Lite and The Grammy Awards.
Wasson has been with TMA for more than 12 years across two stints, first as an account director in the Chicago office, and later in growth and development, based in Dallas. Throughout her career she led accounts at agencies including DDB Chicago and Ogilvy.
TMA is part of Omnicom Group Inc.
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