Utah Scientific, which specializes in routing switchers, master control switchers and related control software, announced the appointments of George Wicker and Brett Benson as U.S. Southeast regional sales managers. Wicker and Benson will team up to take charge of all direct sales activities and partner relationships throughout the eight-state Southeast region comprising Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, and Florida. Both report directly to Tom Harmon, Utah Scientific’s president and CEO.
“George and Brett are joining our team at a critical time as the industry gears up for the transition to IP and hybrid SDI/IP operations,” said Harmon. “People turn to Utah Scientific for the depth of our industry experience, trusting us to lead the way with hybrid IP routing solutions backed by the industry’s only no-fee 10-year warranty and product support. George and Brett both bring a wealth of experience and add significantly to our knowledge base.”
Wicker is returning to Utah Scientific, having previously served as the company’s Southeast regional sales manager throughout the 1990s, being named top salesperson for four of those years. During his absence from Utah Scientific, he held various sales, management, and consulting roles for companies such as ACS Solutions, ADC, Harris Broadcast, and U.S. JVC Corp. Wicker is a member of the Society of Motion Picture & Television Engineers (SMPTE), where he is a member of the board of managers for the SMPTE Southern Region.
Benson has worked in the broadcast industry for more than 20 years — from Southeast regional sales manager for Weather Central in Madison, Wisconsin, to general manager and chief engineer for Park City Television. Benson spent the past 10-1/2 years with Salt Lake City’s local FOX affiliate, KTSU FOX 13, most recently serving as chief meteorologist. He was named Salt Lake City’s best weather reporter for three consecutive years by Salt Lake City Weekly magazine. Benson received a bachelor’s degree in broadcast communications from Brigham Young University and a certificate of broadcast meteorology from Mississippi State University.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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