Independent agency Zulu Alpha Kilo’s New York office has made multiple key creative hires–Cannes Lion-winning creative director teams Vic Bath and Dan Cummings, and Nikki Garrett and Jeff Tyser–as well as creative team Lizzie Cox and Tilden Lincoln.
The hires come at a time where the agency has continued momentum with Booking.com, OperaGX, Gas Leaks, and active new business opportunities.
During their four years at Zulu Alpha Kilo’s Toronto office, Bath and Cummings developed multi-award-winning campaigns together, including the Harley Davidson Tough Turban activation, which won a Gold Cannes Lion. Additionally, their work together has won a Grand Clio, Best in Discipline ADC Cube, Gold at the Andys, and several One Show and D&AD Pencils, among other accolades. Prior to joining forces at Zulu Alpha Kilo, they spent several years separately at many of Canada’s top agencies.
South Africans Garrett and Tyser join Zulu Alpha Kilo New York as a creative director team, coming from Hill Holiday in Boston, their first U.S.-based role. They bring a wealth of experience, gained over 16 years working on brands. The pair got together several years ago at TBWA Hunt Lascaris. Their work has been recognized around the world–notably, winning South Africa’s first ever Glass Lion at Cannes, and the country’s first ever Gold at the Webby Awards.
Cox and Lincoln are also joining the agency as a Creative Team. Before joining ZAK NY, Cox was an art director and designer, respectively, with Fact & Fiction and Moxie Sozo, both creative agencies based in Boulder, CO after completing her Masters in Communications Design at Pratt in New York. Prior to becoming a writer, Lincoln got his Masters in Education and attended the Denver Ad School in Colorado.
“They say you are only as good as the people you surround yourself with. Lucky for us and our clients we are encircled with some of the brightest, warmest, hilarious and talented people in the business. It’s only up from here,” said CCO and partner, Tim Gordon.
The New York office launched a year-long brand campaign for Booking.com in this year’s Super Bowl, including a 2-minute musical featuring Melissa McCarthy that ran during the Oscars. The :30 version was this year’s most watched Super Bowl spot, racking up over 118M views. Zulu Alpha Kilo NY followed it up with additional global campaign extensions using McCarthy and launched Booking’s first MLB sponsorship campaign. The agency also recently launched Splash Spots, transforming New York City fire hydrants into mini water parks during summer’s hottest months, designed for maximum fun and water efficiency.
Zulu Alpha Kilo maintains offices in Toronto, Vancouver and New York City.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More