Tool of North America has added Mad Ruffian, a directing duo consisting of Christopher Watson-Wood and Amanda Jones, to its content roster.
Mad Ruffian is known for highly visual storytelling, in-house VFX, clever transitions, and tongue-in-cheek attitude. The duo has directed spots for Reese’s, Jack Daniel’s, Tesco, Panda Express, and Fujifilm’s Instax camera. Most notably, their U.K. PSA for M&C Saatchi London tackling texting while driving attained global success and aired on the Today Show. With their own successful production company and post house in London, Mad Ruffian now brings their talents to U.S. clients for the first time with Tool.
Both Watson-Wood and Jones participate in industry events and programs and have served as jurors for the UK’s most esteemed industry award shows including D&AD “Film Craft,” UKMVAs and the Shark Awards.
“Christopher and Amanda have an outstanding ability to combine great visual storytelling with top-level animation and visual effects. Their work is emotional and thrilling, and their unique styling and attention to detail helps give brands an instant visual identity,” said Nancy Hacohen, Tool’s managing director.
“Joining Tool is a huge win for us,” read a joint statement from Mad Ruffian. “After cutting our teeth on the mean streets of London as an independent one-stop-shop, it’s been essential for us that we find the perfect fit for our big debut in the States. Tool’s pulse on technology and powerhouse of talent–both behind the scenes and on the roster–makes us proper chuffed. We can’t wait to start making great stuff together!”
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More