The Cavalry Productions has added Deluxe, a.k.a. director Stephane Leloutre, to its talent roster. This marks the first U.S. production house roost for Deluxe who recently wrapped a Hyundai project for agency Innocean, and a Toyota campaign for Burrell. The latter, titled “I Do,” is Deluxe’s first spot for The Cavalry; in it, viewers follow multiple storylines around the use of a Toyota Corolla. The day concludes with an artist-inspired light painting photo shoot around the car, a touch concepted and added to the creative by Deluxe.
At press time, Deluxe had just completed a job for Porsche via Paris-based production house The Moon and Back–with the resulting multiple short films to be aired worldwide starting this fall. He is represented internationally via production company XD through which he helmed a Peugeot campaign. In Peugeot’s “Fractal,” the world is introduced to an experimental prototype via a visual tour de force; magnets, speaker membranes, sound waves, liquids, ear drums, strobe lit interiors, stage shots, geometric projections and a high speed urban romp are combined to show off a car “designed by sound.” Another spot titled “4008” features men spotting a Peugeot on the street, instantly leading to thoughts of wild rides down the road.
“Deluxe’s spots are bold, sometime raucous,” said Calvary founder/executive producer Ross Grogan. “Stunning cars in different terrains, sheet metal to performance, exquisite design, the car is the star.”
Deluxe believes you should evoke viewer emotion first, and then shoot the car in a completely different way. “My approach applies to all luxury brands, things of high elegance,” he said. “All spots start with having a good knowledge of the brand. That makes for accurate filmmaking. I’m very open to everything, to question, to find new ideas. The creative around Toyota is fantastic, beautiful car work.”
Deluxe loves the collaborative bond with agencies. “There is a strength in having many discussions. You talk about the idea; you talk about the storytelling, the art direction and spend lots of time with the creative director. Get the entire team to go along with it and then execute it with everyone on board with the vision.”
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