Marni Beardsley has joined creative agency Swift as chief production officer. She will oversee studio and operational production across all projects. Beardsley comes to Swift after a 25-year run at Wieden+Kennedy, where she most recently was director of integrated art/content production, supporting the global W+K network.
Additionally Swift has promoted Meredith Chase to chief strategy officer. Chase joined Swift in 2015 as VP of strategic planning. She has since built a world-class strategy team that originates smart integrated marketing solutions for clients and robust inspiration for creatives; and led intensive primary research projects to inform brand and business strategy for Swift’s roster of global brands. Chase will continue to lead on business development efforts and direct large primary research projects.
Previously, Chase was founder and principal of the strategic marketing firm Guidance Counsel, which partnered with Under Armour to help reposition its women’s business and developed the strategy that drove the company’s “I Will What I Want” campaign which won the Jay Chiat Grand Prix for Strategic Excellence, 11 Cannes Lions including Cyber Grand Prix, Effie Gold, four One Show Golds and 2014 Marketer of the Year.
Meanwhile during Beardsley’s last 17 years at W+K, she led the integrated art production team. While there, she was instrumental in transforming the range of studio expertise from a focus on still photography and illustration to an expanded skill set that included film, animation, events, experiential and activations. Her client list at W+K included Nike, Shiseido, Target, Levi’s, Samsung, Verizon, Coca-Cola, P&G, Chrysler/Fiat and Delta Airlines.
Beyond the award-winning work she’s overseen for the past two decades, Beardsley is a direct conduit to an international creative community, having forged long-standing relationships with world renowned artists, photographers and directors.
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