Pierce Thiot, a creative executive at Ryan Reynolds‘ production and marketing company Maximum Effort and two-time Emmy nominee who also worked on the launch of Apple TV+, has died. He was 40.

The company said he died August 24 of a pulmonary embolism at his home in Orem, Utah.

Thiot served as Head of Creative for Brand and Entertainment at Maximum Effort, which was founded in 2018 by Reynolds and George Dewey. He worked on such projects as the Lay’s ad with endless time loop on Groundhog Day and Reynolds “fight Big Wireless” ad for Mint Mobile. Thiot also wrote new original content featuring the sitcom alien ALF, worked on resurrecting The Walking Dead for AMC, and the “Lead from Behind” piece for President Camacho’s (Terry Crews) campaign for president in 2020. Watch that here:

Thiot also worked on ads for DoorDash’s 2026 Super Bowl campaign with 50 Cent, along with spots for The Devil Wears Prada 2, L’Oréal Paris, Lancôme and TJ Maxx. Maximum Effort called him a creative genius whose ideas helped shape the company and define its distinctive approach to storytelling.

“Pierce Thiot was a shining light of creativity, kindness and hard work,” Reynolds and Dewey said in a statement (read it in full below). “It is impossible to imagine the world, let alone our company, without him. … We adored and admired Pierce. He was generous with his time and love. He was funny as hell. He gave the best hugs.”

Business Insider named Thiot to its 2016 list of “The 30 Most Creative People in Advertising Under 30.” Before joining Maximum Effort in 2022, Thiot played a key role in launching Apple TV+ (now Apple TV), leading integrated global campaigns for its hit series The Morning Show and Servant.

During that time he was creative director at TBWA/Media Arts Lab, where he earned an Emmy nomination for Apple’s 2019 ad “Make Something Wonderful,” part of the company’s “Behind the Mac” campaign. The ads also won a Cannes Gold Lion for film that year.

While at TBWA/Media Arts Lab, he also worked on Ariana Grande’s Apple Music video for “Memoji” (watch that below) and created Emmy-nominated work for Gatorade and Airbnb’s #LiveInTheMovies campaign, along with the Shot on iPhone world-building series for SEE.

Thiot also served from 2016-18 as creative director at Anomaly, where he helped launch the Netflix series Black Mirror. He also worked on global campaigns for Beats by Dre.

Thiot also made script contributions to National Geographic’s quirky nature docuseries Underdogs, which Reynolds narrated, along with the upcoming Animal Oddballs.

Thiot worked with his creative partner Kathleen Swanson for more than a decade.

He is survived by his wife, Stacy, and their children Adelaide and Jackson.

Here is the full statement on Thiot from Reynolds and Dewey:

“Pierce Thiot was a shining light of creativity, kindness and hard founders Reynolds and Dewey said in a s statement (read it in full below). It is impossible to imagine the world, let alone our company, without him. Pierce was incredibly accomplished before he came to Maximum Effort, having worked on Apple, Nike, Gatorade, Coca-Cola and created the viral sensation ‘Will It Beard?’”’ In his almost 5 years at Maximum Effort, he created countless creative moments for brands like Doordash, L’Oreal, Mint, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and most recently Coyote vs. Acme. He was also a co-writer of National Geographic’s Emmy-winning Underdogs series. More than that, he was beloved. We adored and admired Pierce. He was generous with his time and love. He was funny as hell. He gave the best hugs. Our hearts and efforts will forever be with his wife Stacy, his children Adelaide and Jackson and his work partner of over a decade Kathleen Swanson. – Ryan Reynolds and George Dewey

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