Bicoastal MAS has brought music and advertising expert Gabe McDonough on board as executive producer. He brings extensive ad agency experience to his new roost. McDonough led the music department at DDB Chicago as VP/sr. producer of music and integration before moving on to direct music operations at Leo Burnett and later TBWAChiatDay’s Media Arts Lab (MAL).
Over the years, McDonough’s client list has included the world’s largest international brands such as Apple, Samsung, McDonald’s, Allstate, Kellogg’s, and countless others. McDonough recently collaborated with Team Detroit on its Ford 2015 Edge campaign, sourcing the Rachel Platten hit “Fight Song” to inspiring effect. He joins MAS on the heels of a string of high profile projects, including a moving partnership between Natasha Bedingfield and beauty brand Philosophy for a product launch tied to their recent charity initiative, Hope and Grace.
With over two decades of experience as a live bassist, McDonough also has a deep understanding of every corner of the music industry. He credits much of his success as a producer to thousands of hours spent as a performer on the road, in cramped practice spaces, and in the studio.
“Gabe is a brilliant matchmaker with a refined palette,” said MAS co-founder and managing director James Alvich. “Plenty of people just hear genres and melodies, but Gabe finds subtle tones and details that reveal the full range of possibilities for a song or brand.”
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