Oscar and Grammy Award-nominated producer Geoff McLean has stepped into the executive producer role at Golden LA. Having been a freelance line producer for the past two decades, working with the Venice-based multidisciplinary studio alongside owner/EP Matthew Marquis since its inception, the organic evolution of their working relationship led McLean to this moment.
“It took the right set of circumstances to finally feel comfortable taking the leap to an executive position, as I wanted to have the ability to continue creating content outside of the commercial space, while at the same time building and nurturing a unique and diverse roster,” explained McLean. “The goal is always to be creating cool things with cool (and talented) people, no matter the format.”
Of their collaborative history, Marquis said, “I have known Geoff as a producer, creative partner and good human for a decade, and am so excited about what Geoff brings to Golden LA. We’ve always shared a similar approach to advertising and the long-form as producers, which is to support our talent on both a production and ideation level. There is so much more to help usher a good project into existence than simply booking the job and securing crew. Geoff and I have always embraced a more holistic approach in the way we work and nurture our talent.”
Having extensive experience producing both commercials and long-form projects, McLean served as producer on the Matt Ogens-directed Audible, which was nominated this year for the Best Documentary Short Oscar. (Ogens is with m ss ng p eces for commercials and branded content.) A cinematic coming-of-age story about standing up to adversity, the film follows Maryland School for the Deaf high school athletes as they face the pressures of senior year and grapple with the realities of venturing off into the hearing world.
McLean describes making and following Audible on its extraordinary journey as, “a life-altering experience and one that I’ll not soon forget. Even though we didn’t take home the statue, seeing our cast work the red carpet alongside Hollywood’s most elite, representing their community and becoming role models for future generations of Young Deaf Adults is more of a win than we could have ever imagined.”
Fusing his strengths in this new position, McLean will be producing a new documentary project under the Golden LA banner, while continuing to generate top-level commercial work, with recent projects such as Lucky Charms directed by WATTS (Anomaly), Good Good with WATTS (Droga5), Saman Kesh-helmed campaigns for Citibank/American Airlines and Opendoor, and Jordan Bahat-directed spots for Molson and McDonald’s, to name just a few.
“I’ve enjoyed working and growing alongside some of my favorite directors and to now be collaborating with many of them in this new capacity is truly exciting,” McLean concluded. “This is a unique group of talented individuals and I feel honored and lucky to be a part of this evolution.”
John Ashton, “Beverly Hills Cop” actor, dies at 76
John Ashton, the veteran character actor who memorably played the gruff but lovable police detective John Taggart in the "Beverly Hills Cop" films, has died. He was 76.
Ashton died Thursday in Fort Collins, Colorado, his family announced in a statement released by Ashton's manager, Alan Somers, on Sunday. No cause of death was immediately available.
In a career that spanned more than 50 years, Ashton was a regular face across TV series and films, including "Midnight Run," "Little Big League" and "Gone Baby Gone."
But in the "Beverly Hills Cop" films, Ashton played an essential part of an indelible trio. Though Eddie Murphy's Axel Foley, a Detroit detective following a case in Los Angeles, was the lead, the two local detectives โ Billy Rosewood (Judge Reinhold) and Ashton's Taggart โ were Axel's sometimes reluctant, sometimes eager collaborators.
Of the three, Taggart โ "Sarge" to Billy โ was the more fearful, by-the-book detective. But he would regularly be coaxed into Axel's plans. Ashton co-starred in the first two films, beginning with the 1984 original, and returned for the the Netflix reboot, "Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F," released earlier this year.
Ashton played a more unscrupulous character in Martin Brest's 1988 buddy comedy "Midnight Run." He was the rival bounty hunter also pursuing Charles Grodin's wanted accountant in "The Duke" while he's in the custody of Robert De Niro's Jack Walsh.
Speaking in July to Collider, Ashton recalled auditioning with De Niro.
"Bobby started handing me these matches, and I went to grab the matches, and he threw them on the floor and stared at me," said Ashton. "I looked at the matches, and I looked up, and I said, 'Fโ- you,' and he said, 'Fโ- you, too.' I said,... Read More