Directors Bethan Seller and Quran Squire have joined the global roster of RadicalMedia. Seller will be handled by Radical worldwide–except for Ireland and Scotland where she has ongoing representation relationships. Radical president Frank Scherma said he was drawn to her “wonderful eye” and directorial acumen, particularly from a storytelling and production design perspective.
Seller has a penchant for eliciting strong performances, a knack for subtle comedy, and for creating colorful and engaging film full of bold and quirky characters. Seller’s first film Luxuriously Taxable, which she wrote, produced and directed, raised awareness about the U.K. luxury tax placed on tampons. The film directed viewers to sign an independent petition to axe the tax, which gained over 300,000 signatures and was picked up by Dazed & Confused, Bustle, Metro, The Daily Mail and the Independent’s i100 list. Seller’s attention to detail and positive energy inspire her and others to create compelling work spanning comedy, lifestyle, drama, narrative and fashion.
Aside from her considerable talent, Scherma noted that Seller is based in London which dovetails well with the reality of those American ad agencies currently looking to shoot overseas. During the pandemic, having U.S. directors go abroad could prove problematic. Having Seller in Europe already thus offers a viable option to clients and brands.
Meanwhile Squire is a writer, director, and producer based in Los Angeles. He was born and raised in Essex County, New Jersey, where his creative lens around the narratives of the mundane and the extraordinary were shaped. Squire is a graduate of both Morehouse College and Loyola Marymount University’s School of Film and Television, MFA. His work has been recognized by many platforms such as the American Black Film Festival, Newark International Film Festival, HollyShorts Film Festival, Urbanworld Film Festival, and Revolt TV’s Film Festival. Squire recently completed projects for Loud Robot and Warner Bros Records. Radical had a chance to collaborate with Squire on a music video and the experience was so favorable that the company put him up for another project and brought him aboard its roster.
Scherma said that in addition to being bright young talents, both Seller and Squire are “good people” who are great to work with. And their profile is in the Radical wheelhouse, continued Scherma, which is to nurture new directors, helping them to garner work that showcases their talent and advances their careers.
“Terrifier 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
The choices on the movie marquee this weekend included Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker, a film about Donald Trump, a "Saturday Night Live" origin story and even Pharrell Williams as a Lego. In the end, all were trounced by an ax-wielding clown.
"Terrifier 3," a gory, low-budget slasher from the small distributor Cineverse, topped the weekend box office with $18.3 million, according to estimates Sunday. The film, a sequel to 2022's "Terrifier 2" ($15 million worldwide in ticket sales), brings back the murderous Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) and lets him loose, under the guise of Santa, at a Christmas party.
That "Terrifier 3" could notably overperform expectations and leapfrog both major studios and awards hopefuls was only possible due to the disaster of "Joker: Folie à Deux." After Todd Phillips' "Joker" sequel, starring Phoenix and Lady Gaga, got off to a much-diminished start last weekend (and a "D" CinemaScore from audiences), the Warner Bros. release fell a staggering 81% in its second weekend, bringing in just $7.1 million.
For a superhero film, such a drop has little precedent. Disappointments like "The Marvels," "The Flash" and "Shazam Fury of the Gods" all managed better second weekends. Such a mass rejection by audiences and critics is particularly unusually for a follow-up to a massive hit like 2019's "Joker." That film, also from Phillips and Phoenix, grossed more than $1 billion worldwide against a $60 million budget.
The sequel was pricier, costing about $200 million to make. That means "Joker: Folie à Deux" is headed for certain box-office disaster. Globally, it's collected $165.3 million in ticket sales.
"This is an outlier of a weekend if ever there was one," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst... Read More