WoodShop has added director Claire Thomas to its roster. As a food photographer, millennial influencer, author, blogger and commercial director, Thomas is a custom fit for her new roost which founders Sam Swisher and Trevor Shepard have strategically built to offer a Swiss Army-type solution to tabletop work, garnering repeat relationships with agencies and brands including BBDO for Snickers, Deutsch for Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, Erwin Penland on Denny’s, Goodby Silverstein & Partners for Sonic and Wieden+Kennedy for KFC.
Recognized as one of SHOOT’s up-and-coming directors in 2011, Thomas is known for her fresh, unfussy style and collaborative approach to food, lifestyle, and product. Her blog, The Kitchy Kitchen, an experimental playground for Thomas, has also proven successful. This past fall she released her first cookbook, "The Kitchy Kitchen: New Classics for Living Deliciously," published by Simon and Schuster. Thomas’ client list includes Chobani, Carl’s Jr., Del Taco, General Mills, Lean Cuisine, Kikkoman, Pepperidge Farms and Tropicana, and she has previously worked with brands such as McDonald’s, Kraft, Kellogg’s, Anthropologie, and Amazon.
Thomas was formerly with her own production house Currant. Prior to that she was on the roster of Green Dot Films.
“I’m interested in bringing a new approach and perspective to how we as a culture see and interact with food in our lives,” said Thomas. “There’s a growing trend over the past decade where audiences no longer compartmentalize their interests, but instead are engaged with all of the elements of life that interest them, whether it be food, fashion, music or art. It’s telling the story that connects emotion to all these elements that I’m interested in, and for me that connective story is through food.”
Swisher cited Thomas’ “ability as influencer to shoot lifestyle, tabletop and print all on the same day makes her a no-brainer for brands looking for an integrated solution.”
WoodShop offers top-shelf boutique production solutions from start to finish in product 2D/3D animation, design, live-action, and Flame finish/VFX.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More