UNIT9 has brought Media Ridha on board as head of digital, a newly created role at the production company which is strengthening its influence in the North American market.
Formerly an executive producer at Media.Monks, Google and Jam3, Ridha adds further Web3 and metaverse knowledge to UNIT9’s arsenal one year after the company launched its dedicated Metaverse Advisory Department (M.A.D).
She joins a global team that has been designing and developing cutting-edge digital experiences for the past 26 years–from a mind-ordering pizza app for Domino’s, to deep faking Lionel Messi, and pitting John McEnroe against AI digital avatars from his past.
Working as a conduit between UNIT9’s North America and EMEA teams, Ridha will team closely with UNIT9 U.S. founder Michelle Craig, U.S. director of production Mindy Lubert, and EMEA managing director Rosh Singh. Ridha’s focus will be on expanding the creative services offering within the North American market, leading on digital and tech-led projects.
Ridha said, “What drew me to UNIT9 was the chance to contribute to a team with a dedicated ambition towards innovation and creativity, and to unearth new opportunities in a company with a proven track record in emerging tech projects and experience design. It was an easy and in some ways serendipitous decision; as our relationship with technology and culture continues to evolve so rapidly, UNIT9’s maker mindset is perfectly set up to identify, explore and deliver on this new set of expectations and desires.“
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More