CoMPANY Films, the production house headed by executive producers Richard Goldstein and Ron Cicero, has added documentarian Sam Hobkinson to its directorial roster for representation in the U.S. spanning commercials and branded content. Just yesterday (12/15), the 2021 Sundance Film Festival’s lineup was unveiled. It included Hobkinson’s Misha and the Wolves which was one of 10 documentaries that made the cut for Sundance’s World Cinema Documentary Competition.
Hobkinson directed and wrote Misha and the Wolves, which he was in postproduction on at press time. The documentary centers on a women’s Holocaust memoir which takes the world by storm but a fallout with her publisher-turned-detective reveals her story as an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth. Hobkinson said of Misha and the Wolves, “It’s a passion project that I have been working on–on and off–for the last five years. We just started filming when the pandemic hit, so it’s a miracle that it exists at all.”
Currently Hobkinson is also making a major splash with Fear City, which is the top rated documentary series on Netflix in the U.S., Canada and Ireland.
Cicero contacted Hobkinson after viewing Fear City, a three-part docuseries chronicling the takedown of New York City’s five mob bosses in the ‘70s. “Sam (Hobkinson) has a very precise, composed, cinematic, beautifully art-directed style that is well suited for commercial and branding work,” assessed Cicero. “It separates his work from other docu-style approaches. Sam relishes the challenge to take the narrative into the short form of commercial spots.”
Hobkinson related, “To be able to use my style in short sharp bursts of narrative or pithy, witty character observations in the commercial world is very attractive to me. My documentaries often present the real as hyper-real, and I feel commercial work will allow me to push that further.”
The director added, “More than anything, a strong story that twists and turns and an emotional resonance are key–oh, and fantastic characters. Finding all in the same true story is a tricky thing to do. Ultimately a body of work is a mixture between what you pursue and what comes to you, so mine can look a bit widespread in terms of theme. The projects that I have actively pursued and become passionate about have a few linking themes. My other docs, The Love of Books, The Hunt for the Boston Bombers and Fear City are all panoramic stories of cities at the most dramatic points in their history, told through characters who experienced them. Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable explores themes of belief and myth- making which have attracted me to other projects.”
Hobkinson joining CoMPANY Films marks his first production company representation in the ad arena.
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