Digitally led creative agency Deep Focus, part of Engine Group, has appointed John Reid to serve as U.S. chief creative officer. Reporting to CEO Ian Schafer, Reid will be responsible for driving creative vision for the agency’s North American offices.
Reid will lead Deep Focus’ creative team to serve a client base which includes Frito-Lay, Nestlé, Intel, Purina and eBay. Reid will help the agency develop progressive strategic and tactical plans for its clients.
Prior to joining Deep Focus, Reid served as EVP, chief creative officer at Wunderman, where he led the agency’s creative vision, delivering award-winning work for the likes of The Ad Council, Audi, Johnson and Johnson, E*Trade, Pfizer and Procter & Gamble. In addition to Wunderman, he has also held senior creative positions at agencies including McCann, ATTIK, CP+B and AKQA. Through working with these agencies, Reid has handled creative for other global brands, such as Microsoft, TiVo, Visa, Best Buy and Hewlett Packard.
Reid’s work has been recognized by national and international award shows, including Cannes Lions, Clios, ADDYs, Webbys, and MIXX. He’s been a judge at numerous awards shows including the Cannes Lions, the Clios, and the One Show.
“I look forward to working alongside the talented people of Deep Focus who are brave and provocative enough to ask questions and defy the status quo,” said Reid. “It is this culture of innovation and invention that drew me in to Deep Focus, and I am eager to help continue its evolution towards being each of our clients’ key strategic and creative partner.”
Headquartered in New York City, 500-person agency Deep Focus has a global footprint with additional offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Shanghai, and Hong Kong.
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