Brazilian actor Fred Fleury has created an impressive career for himself in the international entertainment industry through his roles on the multi-award winning series Gringolandia, as well as the films Gragon, Sonic Portraits, The Kiss, Full Circle and many more.

With more than just good looks helping to solidify his place as a sought after actor in the industry, Fleury has continued to dazzle audiences over the years with his impressive range on screen.

Last year Fleury starred in Carina Silva's fantasy film Gragon where he took on the intense role of Wizard Tethios. Blending live action and animation, Gragon erects a fantastical world of kings, queens, oracles and demons. 

The film opens with Princess Pethranie, who is played by Lana Chidsey (Ball Boy, Love Not Equal to LA, K, Forest Date), as she struggles to break out of a nightmare that foreshadows the ominous attacks that her kingdom will soon be forced to defend itself against.

With strongly bonded blood lines connecting him to Princess Pethranie, as members of his family lineage have been the only trusted protectors of past Pethranies on the throne, Fleury's character, Wizard Tethios, catches wind of the princess's sinister dream and rushes to her aid. 

As Pethranie's guardian against the evil forces that be, Tethios wakes her up from the dream and deciphers the meaning of the message. Trusting Tethios's analysis, Princess Pethranie rushes to the balcony to warn her people before embarking on a journey to the planet Zeltrion where, accompanied by Tethios, she consults the oracle Zorga about how to defend against the onslaught of evil attacks that await them on the horizon.   

With Tethios also being the guardian of the portal to the seven worlds, the two continue journeying on through the portal under the advisement of the oracle in search of the dragon, Gragon, the only force able to prevent the kingdom from total annihilation. 

While Fleury has continually taken on both comedic and dramatic roles over the years, this was one of the actor's first experiences tapping into the fantasy genre, and his performance is nothing short of impressive.

"This role took me out of my comfort zone and helped me stretch and improve my acting skills. I was portraying a Wizard from another time and another world, with all of the make-up, props and effects," recalled Fleury. "I had never done that before, so I tried to use the resources I had to give the best performance possible. I believe it’s from those efforts that people grow not only in acting, but in life." 

Earlier this year Fleury showed a totally different side of his craft in Pauline Gefin's film Full Circle, which garnered Gefin the Best First Time Director Award at the prestigious London Film Awards and was chosen as an Official Selection of the 2015 Malta TV Short Film Festival, which is nationally televised on TVM and TVM2, as well as India's LA Femme International Film Festival and Bolgatty International Film Festival, and the SouthEastern Film Festival in the United States.

Sparked by a real life event that happened to director Pauline Gefin whilst living in New York, Full Circle revolves around karma coming full circle as a young woman named Natalie, who had paid for a homeless man's gyro at a street stand the day prior, encounters Mark, played by Fleury, at the very same stand the following day. 

With only a $20 bill in her hand and a vendor with no change, Mark pays for Natalie's gyro with a strong bond that leads to romance forming between the two characters. 

In the film, Fleury starred alongside award winning actor Yaron Urbas from the films Broken Angels, Age of Ice, Joker's Wild, Adriennes Fury and Footprints, as well a the hit series Castle, Nurse Jackie, Kings and 30 Rock, and Charles Prendergast from the TV shows Criminal Justice, Just My Luck and Gotham.

With Fleury's face and talent gracing screens around the world as Full Circle continues its successful run on the international film festival circuit, we can bet that many more award nominations are on the horizon for both the film and this adept young actor.

Growing up in Germany Aleksandra Kovacevic found herself at home on the stage. An actress with unparalleled range and magnetic presence, Kovacevic's talent for tapping into a wide range of characters, including those of the opposite sex, have helped propel her career to the international level.

Earlier this year Kovacevic starred in Lyka Gozon psychological drama film Hush, where she took on the role of Jennifer. The film, which was released earlier this month revolves around Jojo (Shawn McConnell), a man suffering from bipolar-schizoaffective disorder, and Jennifer (Aleksandra Kovacevic), is one of the malicious voices in his head. 

About her character in the film Kovacevic explains, "She is the manifestation of one of the women who turned Jojo down. She is mean, aggressive and downright spiteful. Her goal is to keep frustrating Jojo, she emotionally batters him and is a reflection of how Jojo perceives women."

While Jennifer continually breaks Jojo down and causes him to feel worthless, Jay, another one of Jojo's manifestations who is played by Robert John Torres (LA Stories, The Woodsman, Therapy, Qubitpunk), propels him into drug addiction. 

Unable to cope with the traumatic memories of being sexually abused as a child, an event that ultimately triggers his mental illness, Jojo spends his adult life in a psychological prison battling the voices in his head as they push him closer and closer towards suicide. 

A powerful drama that displays Kovacevic's capacity for darkness, Hush offers viewers a sad and revealing portrayal of what it's like to suffer from a disease that is practically invisible to most outsiders.

In the 2013 film Bits of Glass Kovacevic displayed a completely different side of her craft as a dramatic actress when she took on the starring role of Shelley, a young woman who falls apart after the death of her sister Mallory, who is played by Paulina Sadecka from Pheonix and For Emily. 

The depth of the bond between the two sisters is so powerful that it permeates the physical world allowing Shelley to see her sister even after her death. Although in the beginning she believes that the ability to continue seeing and communicating with her sister is a blessing, as time passes and she receives a work promotion that entails relocating to New York, she is forced to choose between her life and her connection to Mallory.

"Since Mallory’s presence is confined to their family house, moving across the country means that Mallory will disappear forever," explains Kovacevic. "But Shelley has to face reality and realize that she can’t stay there forever, especially with the promotion and because she plans to start a family with her fiancé."

Aleksandra Kovacevic has continued to take on challenging roles over the course of her career, all of which prove the dynamic nature of her craft. In addition to the film Hush, which was recently submitted to the Sundance Film Festival, you can catch Kovacevic in the new Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp directed by two-time Emmy Award winner David Wain.

If advertising were an orchestra, then an advertising producer would be its conductor. Account directors, creatives and clients each have unique needs that must be met for campaigns to run smoothly.

When London-based advertising producer Susie Liu takes on a job, everyone involved on both sides of the production can rest assured that their needs will not only be met, but innovative and eye-catching work will be delivered as well.

Liu has managed world-class advertising and branding campaigns for some of the most successful technology and retail companies in the world such as HSBC, HTC and Nokia, and real estate landmarks and attractions such as London’s Canary Wharf, The Ark, The Shard and Abu Dhabi's Masdar City, a planned eco-city that began development in 2006 and aims to be a hub for clean tech companies in the Middle East.

When she was with worldwide communications and advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi’s, Liu corner-stoned the wildly successful rebranding of London’s now-popular urban center Canary Wharf. 

"The brand strategy was implemented,and tactical campaigns were introduced in parallel. These were to promote all aspects of the site to encourage businesses and people to relocate there. These included retail campaigns B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer), office occupier campaign, arts and culture incentives B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer), food and beverage B2B (Business to Business) and B2C (Business to Consumer)," said Liu.

Today, bustling office buildings, fine-dining restaurants and crowded shops fill the vibrant city center, which started out as one of the world’s busiest shipping ports in the early 1800s. Canary Wharf’s rebranding transformed it from has-been to happening; but that isn’t the only London landmark Liu has reshaped.
 
When she was working with London-based design and marketing agency S-Kape, Liu worked her magic for the one-of-a-kind office building The Ark.

World-renowned Swedish architect Ralph Erskine designed the unique building, which resembles the animal-saving boat from the biblical tale Noah’s Ark. The building was given a radical redesign in 2006, which added two extra floors, an atrium and an open mezzanine to the ship-like building.

Liu’s marketing expertise helped the prominent building thrive as an office space and a tourist attraction after its major redesign was completed.

Though she’s delivered world-class marketing in the world of real estate, she hasn’t confined her immense talents to just one sector.

Liu has also brought her advertising genius to the world of finance. As a part of advertising agency Hogarth Worldwide, Liu launched the global campaign for HSBC Bank Middle East Limited, which is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East.

The majority of the work she did for this campaign was for English- and Arabic-speaking markets in the Middle East, which included Qatar, Egypt and Bahrain.

“It was my responsibility to prioritize the workflow for a team of art-workers, project managers and proofreaders; and where necessary, advise on design guidelines and file adapts,” Liu said. “It was imperative to be organized and have a structure from the start.”

Liu has used her impeccable organizational skills to earn a leading role with top creative consultancies such as London-based Radley Yeldar, where Liu lent her visionary talent to the design and marketing campaign with the Report & Accounts for Morrison’s, the fourth-largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom.

No matter the industry, Liu has established herself as an advertising producer superstar and is sure to continue producing stellar marketing for clients all over the world in the future. Through her work with leading creative agency Wordsearch in London, the immensely talented creative is currently working as an advertising producer for one of San Francisco's newest skyscrapers, the 181 Freemont, which is slated to be completed next year and will offer the city a mixed space that blends over 30 floors of office space with residential pent houses. 

As an actress Diana Matlak has found the perfect place to display her wide range of talents through her work as a multifaceted performer on both the stage and screen. 

At the age of six Matlak, who is originally from Poland, began training as a dancer, an area of performance that she devoted herself to for more than a decade going on to compete at the professional level in the highest international class S in Latin dance. A tough competitor whose been judged by the best in the industry, Matlak found her self at home on the stage. 

Endowed with a magnetic presence that was too strong for anyone to deny, Matlak's electric stage presence has carried over to her acting career and has helped make her a sought after talent for high-profile film and theatrical productions. To put it simply, she is the kind of actress that is hard to turn away from whenever she's on screen.

Matlak recently finished filming Coincidental Romance from director Joseph Brandon where she starred alongside Eva Garcia Luna (Ni aquí, ni allá, Solidarity), Fiammetta Cavatorta (Blood Bath, Neshima) and Owen Martin (Star Trek, Leverage, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Nobodies). 

In the film, which is currently in post-production and is slated to hit the festival circuit next year, Matlak took on the starring role of Hanna, a heartbroken ballroom dancer who struggles to push past the pain of a recent breakup.

"This role was very challenging, because the character was very similar to me," recalls Matlak. "Even though the character and myself had a lot of in common, Hannah is a different person, she's not me, so I remember when I was preparing for the role, I had to find Hanna's motivation and objective in life."

Matlak's propensity for drama compounded by her ability to immerse herself in dynamic and challenging roles has been a huge draw factor for directors like Yining Yan who cast her in the role of Lady in Red in his film Stay earlier this year.

Starring alongside Los Angeles Independent Film Festival Award winning actress Liang Zhao (Dancing for You), Matlak's character finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time and is forced to deal with the consequences. After leaving her apartment for an unplanned outing she is faced with the overwhelming experience of witnessing her neighbor get shot by a ruthless drug dealer.

"She tries to help him as much as she can, but it's too late. Even though it isn’t her fault she feels guilty that she can't save him," explains Matlak. "I think this character is an example of the fact that sometimes, as humans, we are powerless and it really doesn’t matter how much we try, some things just can’t be fixed."

Stay received the award for Best Micro Film at the 2015 Indie Gathering International Film Festival, in addition to being chosen as an Official Selection of the Pittsburg Independent Film Festival where it screened in June, and the 2015 Columbia Gorge International Film Festival.​

​Back home in Poland, the actress landed one of her earliest roles on screen on the hit medical drama TV series Na dobre i na zle aka For Better and For Worse. The series, which continues to be the longest running Polish primetime dramas, received the Telekamery Award, the most prestigious award given in the Polish entertainment industry, from 2001 to 2003.

A true polyglot, Matlak speaks English, Polish, German and basic Russian, an impressive range of linguistic abilities that have allowed her to take on leading roles in projects from filmmakers from around the world.

While Matlak definitely has a look casting directors are after for a variety of roles, the multifarious nature of her abilities, which include being a professional fitness, aqua aerobics and snowboard instructor, a competitive downhill skier and of course, a professional dancer, have all combined to set her apart from other actors in the industry. Beyond this, she is also trained in stage combat.

As Diana Matlak continues to land leading roles in a plethora of productions, having shot more than eight films this year alone, audiences around the world will definitely want to keep their eyes out for this multitalented actress. ​

Some people were just born to perform and actress Sarah Jurgens happens to be one of those unique individuals. Although she was originally born in England, Jurgens spent time in South Africa with her family as a child before migrating to Canada shortly after. Spending time in several different countries in her youth endowed Jurgens with an enriched worldview, but those experiences also prompted her fascination with dialects.
 
She says, "Because I grew up with the good fortune of traveling to different areas of the world where my extended family resides, I developed a keen ear for accents. I really enjoy dialect work, it often opens up an entirely new inner-landscape for me to draw on as an actor, and it brings an edge to the character that I otherwise may not have found."

Jurgens' ability to tap in and become a wide range of characters with starkly different backgrounds is something that not only sets her apart from most other actresses, but it has also proven to be an integral counterpart in her success.

In Michael DeCarlo's (Lost Girl, The Border, Queer as Folk) 2012 film Two Hands to Mouth, which was produced by 
Black Walk Productions, Jurgens took on the role of Anya, a Russian bombshell seductress and the wife of Frank, a business man involved in nefarious ventures who is played by Joe Pingue (Drive, The Book of Eli, Pompeii).

Chosen as an Official Selection of the 2013 Madrid International Film Festival where it was nominated for a Best Actor Award and a Best Editor Award, Two Hands to Mouth revolves around eight blindfolded guests who all meet at a secret pup-up restaurant for a dinner prepared by chef Michael Bradori played by Richard Zeppieri from 24 Hour Rental, Suits and The Bridge.

About playing Anya, Jurgens explains, "Working with a Russian dialect opened up a very specific emotional range for me. It was incredibly fun to play a woman so secure in her sexuality and power."

Jurgens also starred alongside Rachel Skarsten (Fifty Shades of Grey, The Vow, Birds of Prey, Flashpoint), Conrad Coates (Defiance, Saw II, This Means War, The Strain) and Gemini Award winner Ernie Greenwald (Men in Black II, Two and a Half Men, Cellular) in the film.

For Jurgens acting is more than just a career. She admits, "I chose acting as my passion and profession for selfish reasons really. It was the art form that I found most challenging and demanding in terms of self-exploration. As I grow as an individual, I also grow as an artist. It is an ever-evolving process and it’s one that keeps me asking questions, and keeps me engaged with life."

While she has reached an astonishing level of success on screen with leading roles in TV shows including Covert Affairs, Lost Girl, Republic of Doyle and Beauty and the Beast, as well as the films Swearnet: The Movie and The Man in the Shadows, Jurgens has also carved out a place for herself in the international theatre industry.

To date the actress has starred in an impressive list of high-profile theatrical productions including "The Bewitched," "The Clown Show," "The Penelopiad" and "Reasons to be Pretty."

In 2009 she formed the Canada-based theatre production company The Blood Projects with writer/producer and fellow actress Sasha Singer-Wilson. Through The Blood Projects, Jurgens produced and played the starring role of Eve in "This is It" directed by Mark Wilson, and Tessa in "Little Tongues" directed by Paul Lampert.

Although Jurgens admits that she has a strong connection to pretty much every role she's played so far, her role as Queen Ann in Peter Barnes "The Bewitched" has been one of her most beloved. 

Directed by Dora Award winner Nigel Shawn Williams, the production revolves around the true story of the last of the Hapsburg royal line, an inbred family of rulers whose resulting diseases prevented them from producing an heir to the Spanish throne.

"It was a challenging experience playing a historical figure. Maria Anna of Neuburg was Queen of Spain from 1689 to 1700 as the second wife of King Charles II. It allowed me to explore her explosive anger, resulting in seizures and phantom pregnancies," recalls Jurgens.

In Shakespeare's words, "All the world's a stage," that is, at least for actress Sarah Jurgens; and, as she continues to take on new and exciting projects we know that this dynamic performer will continue to dazzle us with her craft for decades to come.

 

 

 

 

Some types of artists, such as writers, tell stories with words. Other types of artists, such as photographers and painters, tell stories with pictures. Russian- born designer and visual effects (VFX) artist Vitaly Verlov tells his stories with motion graphics and special effects.

Modern motion graphics use digital animation to create the illusion of movement and rotation of 2D or 3D artwork. TV stations and commercials use motion graphics to locate viewers to their channels and brand their shows and products.

“Motion graphics is a general term. It's something that visually can be executed in different ways and styles,” Verlov explained. “It can be two-dimensional, flat or illustrated looking as well as three-dimensional.”

Verlov has created motion graphics that have appeared in commercials for some of the largest and most recognizable brands in the world such as Samsung, Nokia and Mitsubishi. He’s also created motion graphics for the worldwide music channels MTV and VH1 and for the Russian channel RUTV.

Even though Verlov’s work has boosted the image of some of the world’s most successful companies, his work is about much more than mere brand identity – Verlov’s work contains narrative.

“Motion design is storytelling,” Verlov said. “When making a TV show opener or a channel ident, you're actually making a short, animated 10- to 15-second piece, which tells a story visually.”

VFX, on the other hand, integrates photorealistic special effects into live action shots, a technique commonly used in film and TV shows to create scenes that would otherwise not be possible. Verlov’s style of motion graphics translated seamlessly to VFX, which has brought him consistent work in the film industry.

“My direction is more 3D oriented,” Verlov said. “That's why it substantially intersects with the visual effects field.”

Verlov was the lead 2D VFX artist for the Chinese sci-fi feature film Impossible, which was directed by Zhou Sun (I Do, Breaking the Silence). During the film’s post-production, Verlov worked on the film’s VFX in the Beijing studio of international VFX production company Pixomondo, which has created VFX for numerous major titles such as Game of Thrones, Furious 7,and Fantastic Four.

But Verlov hasn’t just worked on other people’s projects. In fact, he’s made two films of his own and was heavily involved in the VFX production for each title. 

Verlov’s first film, Forever After, was a sci-fi story about a couple’s encounter with a mysterious alien phenomenon. The film showed at the Cannes Film Festival, the most prestigious film festival in the world, in 2012. Despite the film’s modest budget,Forever After featured breathtakingly realistic VFX and high overall production value.

Redux, Verlov’s latest film, stars Hollywood actors Eric Roberts (The Dark Knight, The Expendables, The Cable Guy) and Russell Fenton (Deceptors, Freshman Psych). The sci-fi drama about a scientist, an assault team and a time-travelling warning message features a retro-futuristic vibe straight out of the 1980s. 

Verlov, who wrote, directed and edited Redux, is currently working its VFX. Redux is the latest credit in what is already an impressive portfolio for Verlov, one that is sure to grow with even more ambitious titles in the future.

You can check out Vitaly Verlov's awesome reel below, and you can also find out more about his work through his website: http://primevalues.net/