Design and digital production studio Timber, headed by creative directors/partners Jonah Hall and Kevin Lau, has added executive producer Sabrina Elizondo who has jumped right into the company’s assorted projects which include three Super Bowl spots. Timber’s new work also includes the launch of the recent CBS promo “Witness Greatness,” encouraging viewers to tune-in for The Grammy Awards and Super Bowl 50 in February, via TBWAChiatDay.
Elizondo’s 10-year career includes stints at The Mill, Method, Arsenal FX, Brand New School, Woodshop and Stardust. In addition to her postproduction work, Elizondo has served every four years as a sr. broadcast liaison for HBS, instrumental in producing the World Cup. This unique experience has taken her traveling around the world to Brazil, South Africa, Germany and Korea.
Over the past year, Timber’s diverse offerings have included providing shot conception, creative direction and visual effects for the ARTPOP Lady Gaga music video, crafting visual effects and design for U2 Bank of America (RED) for the Super Bowl, collaborating on music videos for Coldplay and A-Ha’s Morten Harket, as well as spots for Chevy, Old Spice, T-Mobile and Hyundai.
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