Production and post house Optimus has hired editor Caleb Hepler whose award-winning work includes the Geico “Unskippable” series of spots for The Martin Agency, which took home 10 Lions from Cannes this year, as well as the prestigious Grand Prix for Film. Directed by the Terri Timely team at Park Pictures, the “Unskippable” fare was cut by Hepler when he was with Whitehouse Post.
Originally from DeKalb, Ill., Hepler studied film and video at Columbia College. He started in the business immediately after graduation with an internship at Red Car. After that, he joined Whitehouse Post first as an intern and later as an assistant editor, where he soon started cutting his own work. In addition to Geico, Hepler’s body of work includes such brands as Eggo, Firestone, Kellogg’s, McDonald’s, Oscar Mayer and Walmart.
“I had an opportunity to meet with several people from Optimus, and it feels like such a natural fit,” commented Hepler. “There is so much to look forward to with the new space in the Wrigley Building and Optimus’ goals for editorial.”
Optimus maintains offices in Chicago, Santa Monica and New York. A one-stop shop, Optimus and its production arm One at Optimus offer a full suite of creative services, including production, editing, color correction, visual effects and design, audio mixing and finishing.
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