Two of Us, a London-based production company headed by EP Gianni Cerretani, has reinforced its Atlantic alliance by signing American comedy director Michael Leary on a global basis with the exception of the U.S. Two of Us has been in worldwide partnership with another American director, visual storyteller Corydon Wagner, for many years and the addition of Leary adds another promising creative spark from across the pond to its roster as Leary is building on a breakthrough year in 2020 when he established himself in the U.S. market with his selection into SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase on the strength of his Members Only spec spot, “The Sopranos.”
Based in NYC, Leary has gained a reputation as a commercial director who specializes in physical comedy. He grew up on Looney Tunes and Tom and Jerry, which helped influence the antics and tone seen in his work. Leary’s passion for filmmaking started in college when he switched his major from physical therapy to film production. After receiving a degree in communications and freelancing for many production companies, he discovered he had an affinity for short-form media, especially commercials and branded content. After building his reel for several years, he made the cut for SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase.
Leary’s work has taken him all over the U.S. as well as internationally to such locales as the Caribbean, Italy, Switzerland, and South Africa.
Forsman & Bodenfors Shifts Its Singapore Group Creative Director Ivan Guerra to Its NYC Hub
Forsman & Bodenfors (F&B) has expanded its creative leadership in New York by relocating longtime group creative director Ivan Guerra from the Singapore office to the Big Apple to support a quickly growing list of new client wins.
As a group creative director in Singapore, Guerra racked up numerous accolades and participated in a myriad of new business wins that fueled the agency’s growth year over year. He explained why now was the right time to come back to the states, adding more nuance in the process. ”Singapore is the business hub of Asia, New York is the business hub of the world,” he said. “Our office in Singapore was small when I arrived. Since then, we’ve more than tripled in size, and became the [number one] most creative agency in the country, and work with more and bigger clients than ever before. There’s always more to be done, but the agency I’m leaving behind is in fantastic shape and ready to take on the world, as I know they will.”
For Guerra, there’s an opportunity to replicate in New York the success he had in Singapore. During his career, he repositioned and promoted businesses and products across a wide variety of markets and industries including P&G, Coca-Cola and Booking.com. Some of his well-known work includes a campaign that increased Samsung’s sales in the Middle East by almost 200%, one of the most iconic films in the history of Converse, Verizon’s most successful sports partnership program “Data Dunk” with the NBA, and a “Proud Whopper” campaign in 2014 that reignited Burger King and garnered 13 Cannes Lions and a Grand Clio.
Coming back to New York after 15 years in the business, including a stint where he spent time at the likes of top-shelf agencies like R/GA,... Read More