Director Chad Ostrom has come aboard the roster of Lucky 21. Working for over a decade with fashion and lifestyle brands, Ostrom is a visual storyteller who’s directed for agencies JWT, Laird + Partners, Roberts and Langer DDB, Saatchi & Saatchi, and brands such as Dior, Kanon Vodka, Perry Ellis, and Rembrandt.
Previously represented by PÉNELOPE Studios and T.B.G Studios, Ostrom now joins a Lucky 21 directorial lineup which includes Tom Ryan, Rob Pritts and Robb Bindler. Company EP is John Gilliland.
Lucky 21 CEO Tammie Kleinmann said that relative to the ad biz, Ostrom “understands the process from concept to execution.”
Growing up in Kansas, Ostrom has his interest in directing sparked while spending hours roaming the 49-cent rental video store. As much as he loved watching movies, the power of a cover image and a logline that piqued interest is what he found captivating. It was to foreshadow a future career in advertising. He earned a BA in Film, but ultimately found his path being mentored by writer/director Kevin Willmott and then as an assistant to director Douglas Keeve. From there, Ostrom went on to serve as an editor, assistant director, DP and producer, eventually moving into the director’s chair for branded content and commercial projects.
Ostrom said that pre-pro is essential to his process. “You can’t just show up and think you’ll capture magical, serendipitous moments. The planning stages are about placing yourself on the other side of the process–to really understand the agency and client’s vision so that you earn the trust and right to apply your approach to the story.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More