Managing Director, Broadcast Production
David&Goliath
1) Look at everything with a fresh eye. You want your work to have a distinguished point of view and an accomplished look. Having said that, never lose sight of the client’s objective in making a piece of content. If you create work that is innovative, makes people stop and watch, elevates perception of the brand, and advances the client’s business goals, you will have a busy career.
2) Become the producer every team requests to oversee their projects. Learn as much as you can. Develop a great eye for creative. Keep looking for fresh talent. Work harder than everyone else. Earn your colleagues’ trust. Pay attention to every detail, but always keep the big picture in focus. This will help you anticipate problems before they become unmanageable and allow you to offer up timely guidance and solutions. There are going to be curveballs and tough situations; accept this now, be ready for them, and respond constructively. Your team needs you to be a leader. Be one.
Review: Director James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil”
Quick. Has there ever been a horror film set in a country home with a decent cell signal?
Nope, and there's no signal at Paddy and Ciara's house, either, deep in the English countryside. Soon, that land line will be cut, too, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Paddy and Ciara are that fun-but-somewhat-odd British couple whom Louise and Ben, early in "Speak No Evil," meet on their idyllic Tuscan family holiday. Americans based in London, Louise and Ben are at loose ends, with both job and relationship issues. And so, when the new acquaintances write to invite them for a country weekend, they decide to go.
After all, how bad could it be?
Don't answer that. There are many such moments in the first two-thirds of "Speak No Evil," a Hollywood remake of the 2022 Danish film, here starring a deeply menacing James McAvoy. Moments where Louise and Ben, out of mere politeness and social convention, act against their instincts, which tell them something is wrong – very wrong.
Director James Watkins and especially his excellent troupe of actors, adult and children alike, do a nice job of building the tension, slowly but surely. Until all bloody hell breaks loose, of course. And then, in its third act, "Speak No Evil" becomes an entertaining but routine horror flick, with predictable results.
But for a while, it's a way more intelligent film. And the jumpy moments work — I'll confess to literally springing out of my seat when someone uneventfully turned on a power drill.
We begin in stunning Tuscany, where Louise (Mackenzie Davis, in the film's most accessible and empathetic performance) and Ben (Scoot McNairy, all nerves and insecurity) are vacationing with 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). At the pool, they... Read More