Colour and finishing company, CHEAT, has hired two new colourists, Jack McGinity and Tim Smith.
McGinity and Smith join from Time Based Arts and Electric Theatre Collective respectively. The pair will join colourist Jax Harney and founder Toby Tomkins on the senior colourist team, doubling its size. The move comes following the opening of two new state-of-the-art suites which have been built specifically to support its growing team.
Prior to joining CHEAT, Jack McGinity was working as a colourist at Time Based Arts. His commercial work includes campaigns for Dior, Calvin Klein, Louis Vuitton, Balenciaga, Nike, Mercedes, F1, ASOS, Ballantines, Arla, TK Maxx, WWF and Sainsburys.
In 2017 he was awarded a Gold at Kinsale for the grade on Dennai Moore’s music video ‘Trickle’. In 2018, he graded the winner of the best short film category in BIFA – Dawn Shadforth’s ‘The Big Day’. He has graded promos for Kylie, Naughty Boy, Skepta, Toddla T, Bastille and Metronomy.
McGinity said: “It’s exciting to join an ambitious and growing company that’s focused so much on colour. CHEAT have been making waves in the colour industry by having the willingness to try and be as varied as possible, which is something that is already paying dividends. I’ve been lucky to work with some fantastic directors and made some very good friends at the same time, so I’m looking forward to continuing working with them and to meet and enjoy working with many new people too.”
Tim Smith cut his teeth at The Mill as a colour assist then climbed the ranks to colourist after moving to Electric Theatre Collective. Throughout his career he has worked with directors including Mollie Mills, Jean Nkiru, Duncan Loudon, Hugo Jenkins, Bafic and Dan Emmerson. In the commercial sphere, Smith has worked on big-name brand campaigns for the likes of Sony Bravia, Stella McCartney, Nike, Jimmy Choo, Rimowa, Carlsberg, Burberry, Converse, Carhartt, Adidas, Bershka, and Ralph Lauren.
He has graded promos for musicians including Dizzie Rascal, Rejjie Snow, Wiley, J Hus, Tom Walker, Kamasi Washington and Ray BLK . His music video ‘Kong’ for Neneh Cherry was nominated for Best Colour Grade at the 2018 UKMVA’s.
Smith said: “Like Jack, one of the big reasons CHEAT appealed to me is its heavy focus on colour. Traditionally, the role of the colourist is very singularly driven and individually focused – but here the model is different. I’m looking forward to expanding my horizons and seeing how working in a team of colourists can help to drive this business. Not only that, the fact CHEAT is a really talented young team was also a big pull for me. Its an incredible time for creative work at the moment and I am truly excited to see what is coming next.”
Founder of CHEAT, Toby Tomkins said: “We’ve had our eyes on Jack and Tim’s work for some time. We’re now in a position to double the size of our colour team and I couldn’t be more pleased to welcome them into the fold. I know they can bring the lateral thinking and unique creative perspective that we look to provide at CHEAT. It’s going to be an exciting year for us. Not only do we have some incredible creative projects on the horizon we have a much bigger space to do them and our strongest team of colourists yet. This is just the first of some exciting moves this year.”
Jon Creamer
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