Rob Churchill has joined creative production studio Flavor’s Chicago staff as VFX director. The development also involves Churchill becoming a partner (along with Flavor parent Cutters Studios and other entertainment industry entities) in the launch of a production venture to be announced in the days to come.
A Chicago native, Churchill has established himself as a top-tier VFX director over the past two decades, most recently with Carbon VFX since its 2018 acquisition of Filmworkers. In partnership with leading directors and creatives, he is a key collaborator behind assorted high-profile campaigns for Capital One, Allstate, Apple, Budweiser, McDonald’s, Samsung, State Farm, and many other Fortune 100 brands. Churchill is also increasingly involved in projects as a director.
Churchill additionally designed visual effects for IFC Films’ An Acceptable Loss from Chicago’s writer/director Joe Chappelle. The dramatic feature starring Tika Sumpter and Jamie Lee Curtis currently appears on Amazon Prime and Showtime. Churchill’s focus on both short- and long-form projects aligns perfectly with recent developments at Cutters Studios; along with artists from Flavor and sound company Another Country, several Cutters editors have earned impressive narrative and documentary feature credits over the past three years.
Cutters Studios’ family of companies includes Cutters, Dictionary Films, Another Country and Flavor.
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