Merman has added Shaun James Grant to its U.K. directing roster. Grant’s creative journey began in music and photography before evolving into branded content and advertising, where he developed a distinctive voice directing powerful, human-centered stories for brands and organizations including Bloom & Wild, NFL x Nike, English National Ballet and Women’s Aid. His short film Hope, a raw and haunting portrayal of a couple in turmoil, captured the attention of industry professionals and proved a turning point in his career. The film paved the way for his transition into long-form storytelling, beginning with his directorial work on Apple TV’s “Criminal Record”. He was soon commissioned to direct episodes of Amazon Prime’s The Devil’s Hour, also starring Scottish actor Peter Capaldi. And over the past year, Grant has deepened his collaboration with Apple, directing episodes of the highly anticipated next season of Hijack, starring Idris Elba. In parallel, Grant is developing original screenplays that further expand his storytelling repertoire….
Tony Waissmann has launched 52, a creative agency with offices in Miami and Buenos Aires. The new shop currently works with clients in the technology, travel and home appliances industries, with more client partnerships to share soon. Before founding 52, Waissmann was chief creative officer at Republica Havas, which is based in Miami. Under his creative leadership, the agency won its first-ever Cannes Lions in its 17-year history in 2023 and in 2024, for the campaign, called, “The Name Confusion” for the Fight Against Alzheimer’s Association and Racing Club Argentina, which highlighted name confusion as an early symptom of Alzheimer’s disease. The campaign won three Lions across the Health & Wellness, Entertainment Lions for Sport and Media categories. During his nearly three years at the agency, Republica Havas also won more than 100 top industry awards, including at the Clios, LIA, One Show, and El Ojo de Iberoamérica. Waissmann also led the creative development of multiple campaigns there, including “Mini Rooms” for Motorola and “The Missing Review” for the NGO Amigos for Kids–an organization that works to prevent child abuse and neglect–along with many other relevant and impactful campaigns with major global brands. He also led work across categories such as banking, health, supermarkets, restaurants, beverages, food, and more. Prior to his role at Republica Havas, Waissmann served as CCO of HOY, Havas Group’s creative agency in Latin America, leading creativity across four offices–one in Argentina, one in Mexico, and two in Colombia. He was also CCO of Geometry Argentina, part of WPP, and previously served as ECD at FCB Buenos Aires….
