R/GA has named Kim Laama as its VP, executive creative director after a short sabbatical from her role as group ECD at R/GA New York. Laama will lead a growing team of designers and creative technologists to strengthen the product and service design capability with a focus on the office’s future-facing commerce and activation expertise. She’ll also work closely with SVP, managing director Tara Moss to drive innovation and growth for current client partners Nike, McDonald’s, MasterClass, and The British Columbia Automobile Association (BCAA).
“We’re thrilled to have Kim return to R/GA helming our creative practice in Portland, where we’ve done some of our most notable work with adventurous brands like Nike and McDonald’s,” said Tiffany Rolfe, R/GA global chief creative officer.
Ben Williams, R/GA chief experience officer, added, “Kim is an exceptional creative who understands how to create relationships between people and brands through thoughtful and innovative experience design.”
Laama returns to R/GA after a one-year sabbatical. Previously, she was part of the creative leadership team overseeing Samsung, Equinox and Johnson & Johnson, among others, at R/GA New York. Laama was pivotal in leading key projects, while establishing and fostering an experience and design focused creative team. Prior to R/GA, Laama led brand experience initiatives at AKQA while growing talent and building diverse, inspired, and collaborative teams. In her tenure at AKQA, Laama established and grew the company’s product design practices in San Francisco and New York, co-created New York’s D&I program and led creative work for Audi, Nike, Soho House, Verizon, Volvo, and Xbox.
R/GA Portland’s recent work collaborations include Nike’s sixth season of its PLAYlist episodic series, as well as the brand’s Game Growers series, both of which were geared at kids and the benefit of making sport a daily habit. The office also drove the design innovation build for McDonald’s corporate digital ecosystem.
Alec Baldwin Urges Judge To Stand By Dismissal Of Involuntary Manslaughter Case In “Rust” Shooting
Alec Baldwin urged a New Mexico judge on Friday to stand by her decision to skuttle his trial and dismiss an involuntary manslaughter charge against the actor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of a Western movie.
State District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer dismissed the case against Baldwin halfway through a trial in July based on the withholding of evidence by police and prosecutors from the defense in the 2021 shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust."
The charge against Baldwin was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can't be revived once any appeals of the decision are exhausted.
Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey recently asked the judge to reconsider, arguing that there were insufficient facts and that Baldwin's due process rights had not been violated.
Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on "Rust," was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal when it went off, killing her and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer — but not the trigger — and the revolver fired.
The case-ending evidence was ammunition that was brought into the sheriff's office in March by a man who said it could be related to Hutchins' killing. Prosecutors said they deemed the ammunition unrelated and unimportant, while Baldwin's lawyers alleged that they "buried" it and filed a successful motion to dismiss the case.
In her decision to dismiss the Baldwin case, Marlowe Sommer described "egregious discovery violations constituting misconduct" by law enforcement and prosecutors, as well as false testimony about physical evidence by a witness during the trial.
Defense counsel says that prosecutors tried to establish a link... Read More