Director Evan Silver and executive producer Ryan Ennis have teamed to launch Reform School. The bicoastal production studio opens with a diverse roster of directorial talent which includes Silver, Dax Martinez-Vargas, the mono-monikered Julie, and Heath Cullens.
Company founders Silver and Ennis have a track record together, having collaborated over the past decade to turn out varied award-winning jobs. This past year they’ve been turning out one-off projects (Amazon, Fage Greek Yogurt, MTV, Meijer supermarkets) and this month decided to make their connection official with the formation of Reform School. Upcoming work includes a high-profile, Silver-directed TV campaign for the cult wine brand 19 Crimes.
Silver–whose recent production company affiliations include Ruffian and prior to that Gifted Youth (FunnnyorDie)–has directed Super Bowl commercials, TV sketches, music videos, and work advancing pro-social causes. He has collaborated with clients such as Nike, Audi, MTV, FunnyorDie, HBO, Burger King, Mint Mobile, Xbox, ESPN, and The Daily Show. Silver recently won two 2021 Entertainment Clios: a Silver for a VH1 spot starring Martha Stewart, and a Bronze for Hulu starring the cast of Jumanji. Silver–who is also currently repped in Canada by Circle–has seen his work earn Cannes Lions, AICP Show honors, One Show, Webbys, GLAAD, and other industry accolades, including a slot in SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase back in 2007.
EP Ennis has 17 years of freelance experience in commercial and film production during which he’s produced projects for ad agencies such as Droga5, Mother, Deutsch LA, and 72andSunny. Having risen through the ranks of the L.A. film community, he learned every facet of production hands on, and he uses that knowledge to solve any creative challenge and deliver a creative vision as promised. As a proud member of the Choctaw Nation, a Native American tribe originally occupying the Southeastern United States, Ennis is passionate about advancing Native American and Indigenous representation in commercial and film production.
Reform School’s directorial lineup offers a mix of well-known and up-and-coming talent. Martinez-Vargas was earlier repped by m ss ng p eces and SMUGGLER in the U.S. He currently has U.K. representation via Curate Films.
Meanwhile Reform School marks director Julie’s maiden voyage into the U.S. market. She is also repped by Soup Films in Germany.
And Cullens is a film and episodic TV director (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) now breaking into the commercialmaking world via Reform School.
Silver and Ennis envision Reform School as a shop that deploys humor and storytelling in order to make a cultural impact. They also cite the new venture’s fresh, modern, creatively driven approach to production. Ennis observed, “The established production company model over the past ten, or even two years, feels very anachronistic in 2022. We responded by revamping the production process to be more agile, collaborative, diverse, and intimate. This allows us to customize our approach on each project and ensure our clients get everything they want despite any limitations.”
Silver said, “By starting our company from scratch, we were determined to make the production process more creative and fun for our directors, agencies, and clients. Being a boutique, filmmaker-led shop allows us the freedom to take risks on those edgier, yet coveted, creative projects that have a real impact on our culture.”
Ennis added, “We are purposely keeping our roster of directors tight, well-defined, and sought after. The industry isn’t in need of another hugely rostered company that is trying to be everything to everyone at the same time.”
Reform School is represented on the West Coast by Siobhan McCafferty & Associates + Good Rebel, on the East Coast by The Family, and in the Midwest by Dawn Rao & Partners.
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