Editors Tim Wilson and Ben Suenaga have departed Go Robot!, New York, and opened an editing company with partner and managing director/executive producer Melissa Mapes. Dubbed Friendshop!, the new venture will temporarily operate as “Artists in Residence” at Outpost Digital, New York, while permanent offices are undergoing construction.
Wilson and Suenaga had each been on staff at Go Robot! for more than a decade. Wilson’s credits include ad campaigns for HP, Exxon, UPS, and Ikea while Suenaga’s spots span such clients as IBM, Starbucks, AT&T and PowerAde.
Mapes previously served as executive producer and sr. partner at Ogilvy, New York, where she led American Express, UPS, IKEA and Stoli among others.
For her part, Mapes said that her 15 years at Ogilvy “prepared me in a great way to handle the wily ways of the creative and demanding world of advertising.”
“Ben, Tim and I have essentially grown up together in this business, and have been relying on each other as partners since our careers began,” she added. “We’re excited to officially join forces and take on the many opportunities and challenges ahead.”
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