Director Claire Thomas has joined Community Films for U.S. representation. Thomas’ skills and expertise as a food stylist, photographer, writer, cook and lover of design, food and fashion all have contributed to her rise as a director. Her body of work is defined by an elegant use of light, polished realism and the capturing of food, people and objects in a beautiful, inviting and honest way. Her directorial credits span such brands as Visa, McCafe, Del Taco, Arby’s, Chick-Fil-A, TGI Friday’s, Nordstrom, Kraft, Pepperidge Farm, Sargento and Tropicana, and agencies including BBDO, McCann, The Richards Group, Deutsch, Camp + King, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, DDB, FCB, Leo Burnett, JWT, R/GA and Y&R.
Prior to joining Community Films, Thomas had been at production house WoodShop. She began her career as an assistant food stylist and personal chef. Thomas then moved on to write and shoot stills for Zagat and The Huffington Post. This prompted her to start her blog, The Kitchy Kitchen, as a way of sharing her love of food and design. She continues to write all the recipes, shoot all the stills and direct all the videos on the blog. Ultimately, this led to her commercial directing career, which began in 2011 working with McDonald’s. It also kick-started her nationally televised ABC TV show, Food for Thought with Claire Thomas, and her cookbook, "The Kitchy Kitchen," released by Simon & Schuster in late August 2014. Her second cookbook, which she photographed and co-authored, "Sweet Laurel: Whole Food, Grain Free Desserts," is being released on April 3, 2018 from Clarkson Potter.
“We absolutely loved Claire’s work the minute we saw it,” said Lizzie Schwartz, partner and executive producer, Community Films. “It’s beautiful and sophisticated, while at the same time so authentic and unpretentious. Food, and how people relate to it and enjoy it, are at the core of everything she creates, and she creates everything with amazing passion and dedication to her craft.”
Thomas has appeared on NBC’s Today Show and her work has been featured in Glamour Magazine, Town & Country, House Beautiful, O Magazine, Refinery 29, Vogue, Los Angeles Magazine, Domino, Darling, Lonny and USA Today.
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