Chuck Studios, an Amsterdam-based food brand production specialist, is accelerating its presence in the U.S. The company, known for its “Culinary Identity” branding programs that develop distinctly appetizing brand imagery for Unilever, KFC, McDonald’s, Heineken and others, will bring this approach to the U.S. market led by newly named managing director Daryl Devlin. Olaf van Gerwen, Chuck’s global creative director, has collaborated with Devlin for years, including during Devlin’s stretch heading up U.S. sales for the company. In addition to its Amsterdam headquarters, Chuck maintains offices in Los Angeles, London, Berlin and Moscow…..
Havas Media Group (HMG) has named Sarah Ivey as its chief strategy officer, North America. Her appointment comes on the heels of her predecessor in that role, Meghan Grant, being elevated to president of HMG U.S. and chief experience officer for North America last month. Based in Toronto, Ivey will report directly to HMG North America CEO Greg Walsh and serve on the agency’s North American executive leadership team. Ivey spent four years consulting with HMG, working with the global team on the agency’s unique Mx, or Media Experience, system. She also consulted on key growth opportunities, working on high-profile pitches such as Hyundai Kia, and Facebook. Most recently, Ivey served as founder and head strategist for Agents of Necessity, a global strategy agency…
London-headquartered global creative agency Amplify, which also maintains hubs in Sydney and L.A., has hired Bonnie O’Hara as EVP heading up the Live arm of its L.A. office, becoming a member of the sr. management team and working alongside Mark McDermott, EVP, clients, and Marcus Childs, president. This marks a return to the agency for O’Hara, who was Amplify’s third employee when it launched in 2008. O’Hara brings years of transatlantic experience with a focus on culture shaping work for brands such as adidas, Converse, Samsung, Barclaycard and Google….
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More