LOBO DRIVES SAFETY WITH “BAD IDEAS” PSA
Latin American highway concession operator CCR teamed up with agency Heads and global creative studio LOBO to bring fresh color to this new driving safety PSA with light-hearted animations, casting “bad ideas” behind the wheel as mischievous monsters with their own unique personalities, directed by the Alton duo. From driving drunk and multitasking with texts to declining using a seatbelt, risky business increases traffic accidents and puts the driver and those around them in danger.

Alton also designed all nine unique creatures, each representing a dangerous driving habit: “Doze-Off” lumbers to a standstill in a daze, “Drunkaroni” thinks leaving the bar buzzed is a great idea, “Light-Killer” couldn’t care less about regular tune-ups, and many more. Amidst the chaos, a hero arose: “Responsa,” a fuzzy creature with a responsible attitude who stands for safer traffic for all. 

AMAZING GRACE TO OPEN EBERTFEST
Alan Elliott’s restored version of Amazing Grace will open the 21st annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, co-founded and hosted by Chaz Ebert and also known as “Ebertfest.” Amazing Grace is the highly anticipated concert film presenting Aretha Franklin’s live performance at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Los Angeles in January 1972. 

Director Elliott and producer Tirrell D. Whittley will be in attendance to discuss the film.  

“Most years our Opening Night film has been a 70 mm celluloid, but this year it will be 70mm of soul,” said Chaz Ebert. 

Amazing Grace will be released in theaters by NEON in April 2019.  

The 21st Anniversary of Ebertfest will be held April 10-13, 2019 at the Virginia Theatre in Champaign, IL, with related talks and panel discussions to be held at the Hyatt Place in Champaign and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE....
Michael Kutschinski is to take on the position of managing director creation at Plan.Net UX in Hamburg, Germany. He will work closely alongside founder and managing director Christoph Mecke in running and further expanding the agency, which specializes in user experience. Here, the main focus will be on the interplay between creativity and technology in optimizing user experience across all digital channels. He also plans to provide ongoing assistance to existing Plan.Net clients in their internationalization activities. Kutschinski will report to Klaus Schwab, managing partner of the Plan.Net Group. Until the end of last year, Kutschinski was chief creative officer at Ogilvy Germany and global creative leader customer engagement & commerce at Ogilvy, Berlin. He spent the last 15 years at the WPP subsidiary, which he joined in 2004 as ECD, before being promoted to global CCO of OgilvyOne Worldwide until OgilvyOne was integrated into Ogilvy. During this time, Kutschinski looked after major accounts such as BMW, Deutsche Bahn, Nescafé, o2 and VW. His CV also includes positions at Jung von Matt in Hamburg and at Pixelpark in Hamburg and New York. Over the course of his career, Kutschinski has won over 350 awards and has been on the panel of judges at Cannes Lions, The One Show, the Art Directors Club and the New York Festivals......