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.
Review: Writer-Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood’s “Heretic”
"Heretic" opens with an unusual table setter: Two young missionaries from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are discussing condoms and why some are labeled as large even though they're all pretty much a standard size. "What else do we believe because of marketing?" one asks the other.
That line will echo through the movie, a stimulating discussion of religion that emerges from a horror movie wrapper. Despite a second-half slide and feeling unbalanced, this is the rare movie that combines lots of squirting blood and elevated discussion of the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
Our two church members — played fiercely by Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East — are wandering around trying to covert souls when they knock on the door of a sweet-looking cottage. Its owner, Mr. Reed, offers a hearty "Good afternoon!" He welcomes them in, brings them drinks and promises a blueberry pie. He's also interested in learning more about the church. So far, so good.
Mr. Reed is, of course, if you've seen the poster, the baddie and he's played by Hugh Grant, who doesn't go the snarling, dead-eyed Hannibal Lecter route in "Heretic." Grant is the slightly bumbling, bashful and self-mocking character we fell in love with in "Four Weddings and a Funeral," but with a smear of menace. He gradually reveals that he actually knows quite a bit about the Mormon religion — and all religions.
"It's good to be religious," he says jauntily and promises his wife will join them soon, a requirement for the church. Homey touches in his home include a framed "Bless This Mess" needlepoint on a wall, but there are also oddities, like his lights are on a timer and there's metal in the walls and ceilings.
Writer-directors Scott Beck and Bryan Wood — who also... Read More