Director Paul B. Cummings has joined the roster of Tuff Contender, the production company under the aegis of executive producers DJay Brawner and Max Rose. Cummings has directed commercials for Doritos, Dunkin’ Donuts, Hotels.com, K-Mart, McDonald’s and Taco Bell, and collaborated with agencies including Alma DDB, Dentsu, Deutsch, and Hill Holiday. Cummings was previously represented in the ad arena by Noble (formerly DUCK Studios).
“What drew me into Paul was a short film he created,” noted Brawner, referring to Margot’s Last Meal. “It was touching, it was endearing, and it made me cry–it was the opposite of his commercial work in tone, but visually at the same level as everything else he creates. I knew there was depth to him beyond the comedy we see in his commercial work, this made me want to bring him into Tuff without question. Upon meeting, the similarities in our approach to projects were unparalleled.”
Cummings enjoyed one of the early YouTube viral waves in 2006 with his stop-motion digital short Tony vs. Paul, which garnered over six million views and subsequently earned him a Webby nomination. Shortly thereafter, Cummings was signed by creative director John Andrews with production company ka-chew! where he deployed his stop-motion techniques for several brands including Red Vines and Yoplait’s Go-Gurt. In 2013, Cummings earned “Best Animated Film” from the One Screen Film Festival for his short Instagramimation. Stop-motion honed Cummings’ storyboarding methods, which contributed to his leap into live action work with celebrity talent including Paul Rudd, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jon Hamm, Zac Efron, Key & Peele and Adam DeVine.
Most recently, Cummings worked with Adult Swim to create live-action shorts for the Rick and Morty season finale featuring Emmy-Award winning actor Christopher Lloyd (Back To The Future, Taxi) and Jaeden Martell (It, Defending Jacob). Cummings also serves as creative executive on the upcoming animated series Summer Memories, an A&N Production created by Adam Yaniv and following the adventures of Jason and Ronnie as Jason looks back on the most pivotal summer of his life.
“DJay and I speak the same language when it comes to production,” said Cummings. “We both love a new project, the relationships with our crews and have an insatiable drive to create content interesting and exciting for clients. I look forward to going to bat for each other.”
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