People on the Move

Havas Creative Group has appointed Mike Amour to the position of chairman and CEO of Asia Pacific, effective October 17. 

In this new role, Amour will be responsible for leading and driving continued collaboration and growth in one of the most dynamic regions for Havas Group. The appointment is a key milestone in the group’s ongoing efforts to build agile teams and integrated structures to deliver the most impact for clients. Amour will report to Andrew Benett, global CEO of Havas Creative Group, and will be based in Singapore.

Prior to joining Havas Creative Group, Amour was president, Asia Pacific at Starcom Mediavest Group. Previously, he was CEO Asia Pacific at Project: Worldwide. Amour also led Grey Group Asia Pacific for four years as chairman and CEO, where he oversaw significant growth, including acquisitions in China, India, and Vietnam. Prior to that, based in London, New York, Tokyo, Paris and Portland, Amour held senior management positions at McCann, TBWA, and Wieden + Kennedy. Amour will take over from Juan Rocamora, currently chairman, Havas Creative Group APAC, who will retire at the end of the year.

Nomad Editing Company’s NY office has signed editor/partner Amanda Moreau, continuing its expansion this fall. She is the most recent addition to the roster along with editors/partners Jim Ulbrich, Adam Schwartz and Jai Shukla. They joined a team which already included long-time staff editor Tyler Peck. Earlier this year, EP/partner Jennifer Lederman joined the company.

Moreau helped launch the New York office of Beast, where she gained 10 years of experience as a sr. editor. She has worked with brands including Reebok, Garnier, Duke Energy, IKEA and Champs. However, it was at Hunter College/CUNY under Roy DeCarava, where her passion for editing was first kindled.

With the new team in place at Nomad, bigger changes are on the horizon for the NY operation which is preparing to begin construction on a larger space just up the street with a move scheduled in early 2017. “Our new location will have more edit rooms and finishing suites for Flame and After Effects--not to mention other fun distractions like a custom bar, darts and ping pong,” added Lederman.

Production and post house Optimus has promoted Tim Cahill to editor. Cahill brings almost a decade of experience with top agencies and brands, as well as significant industry recognition, to the chair.
 
“Tim’s easygoing manner belies the fact that he is a true professional in the edit chair,” said Optimus EP/managing director Brian Hrastar. “He runs the room effortlessly, balancing the creative and technical needs of the project while simultaneously making the clients feel immediately comfortable. Clients and Optimus producers alike know their projects are in good hands with Tim. He has built lasting relationships inside and outside the building.”
 
A University of Dayton graduate, Cahill started at Optimus in the fall of 2009 as an intern and worked his way up to assistant editor two years later. He has worked with agencies including Edelman, Leo Burnett, mcgarrybowen and Ogilvy for clients such as Barilla Pasta, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Capri Sun, Coca-Cola, DSW, Humana, JCPenney, Lincoln, and Olive Garden. Earlier this year, Cahill was nominated for AICE Awards in two different categories for his work on Leo Burnett and Off the Street Club’s “One Chicago,” which also made the AICP shortlist in 2016. 
 
“It means everything to have accomplished my goal of making editor,” said Cahill. “Years of hard work, learning, dedication and patience have paid off, and I look forward to creating and collaborating with clients and colleagues alike on exciting new projects and brands. I’ve met amazing people along the way, and look forward to continuing to do so. My new goal is to establish myself as a top-tier talent in the postproduction community.”

Yan Elliott is joining CHI&Partners as joint executive creative director, alongside Micky Tudor.
 
Elliott leaves Lucky Generals where he was creative partner, and responsible for notable recent campaigns including the Radiocentre work talking directly to the UK’s leading marketers, and Popchips campaign “Be a Bit Good.”
 
Previous to Lucky Generals, Elliott’s career spans two years at HHCL, nine years at Mother and five years as joint ECD at WCRS before leaving to start up his own agency, Fabula, in 2012.
 
Throughout his career, Elliott has created and overseen work for brands including Coca Cola, Dr Pepper, Super Noodles, Weetabix, Selfridges, Brylcreem, Sky, Orange, 3Mobile, 118 118, The Observer, Kiss FM and TfL.
 
At WCRS, he was responsible for famous work including Sky’s £100m brand campaign “Believe in Better.” He also oversaw campaigns including Brylcreem’s “Effortless,” Weetabix’s “Steeplechase,” TfL’s “Cycle Safety” and 3Mobile’s “Expo.”

At Mother, Elliott created work including Orange’s D&AD Pencil-winning “Gold Spot” cinema campaign in which celebrities such as Patrick Swayze, Carrie Fisher, Spike Lee, Darth Vader and Darryl Hannah pitched their film ideas to the Orange Film Funding Board, only to have their pitch ruined by a mobile phone. This led to the creation of Orange Wednesdays: one of the UK’s most successful sponsorship and reward programs ever, with tens of millions of tickets redeemed.
 
Elliott also made headlines at Mother for Dr Pepper’s Lion-winning “What’s The Worst That Could Happen?”--in which people tried the drink and were dramatically publicly humiliated--and SuperNoodles’ West-Side-Story-inspired spoof campaign ‘Face Off’.
 
Elliott said: “It will be hard to leave Lucky Generals – I’ll be leaving a rock-steady ship with a rock-steady crew, but for me this is a golden opportunity. CHI is small enough for me to make a difference and big enough for us to make an impact. I’m already really looking forward to working with Micky [CHI joint ECD Tudor] and Goldie [CHI CEO Sarah Golding].