TBWALondon has hired multi-award-winning producer Melody Sylvester as chief production officer. Sylvester will work in partnership with chief creative officer Andy Jex and form part of the senior leadership team.
By embedding production into the start of the creative process, Sylvester and Jex will elevate the process and the output. Tasked with creating integrated creative production teams that can work across any area of the creative process, she will utilize her established relationships to build creative partnerships in London and across the global network.
With more than 25 years in the creative industry, Sylvester has worked at a wide range of creative agencies and production companies including Mother, Nexus and Ridley Scott Associates. Over that time she has produced for award-winning directors Smith & Foulkes and Shynola.
She joins the TBWA team from House 337 (formerly Engine) where as head of film, she managed Sky, Warburtons, Money Supermarket, Churchill and Green Flag. Engine had a long-established relationship with charities Born Free, Women’s Aid and Alzheimer’s Society.
Sylvester while at Engine led the production team behind landmark work for The Kiyan Prince Foundation, which raised huge amounts of donations and awareness for the youth work of Dr Mark Prince OBE. The anti-knife crime campaign garnered a Cannes Lions Titanium Grand Prix for Engine in June 2022.
Sylvester strives for inclusivity within ad land and champions emerging talent in front of and behind the camera. She has recently chaired the inaugural jury for The Young Arrows Awards for Emerging Talent that took place at the BFI this month. She is committed to supporting young people in the workplace and providing them with real opportunities within the industry.
Sylvester said, “I have long held the belief that production requires a seat at the leadership table. It makes for better creative output and a more rewarding experience for all of those involved from the client to the on-set runner. Larissa [Vance, TBWA London CEO], Andy and I share a love of making great work and I am super excited to be working with them and the entire leadership team at Bankside. Their ethos of ‘disruption’ resonates with me completely. Can’t wait to get started.
Jex noted, “The partnership between creative and production is fundamental to making great work. Clients spend so much money on production but don’t ever get to talk to a producer. Melody will allow us to create properly integrated production teams that are as comfortable doing agency production as they are line production. Her track record on campaigns such as the Kiyan Prince shows that if you take a different approach to production you can create something totally new and exceptional.”
CEO Vance added, “If there was anyone who personifies our reclaimed version of Disruption, it is Melody–an absolute force in the industry who constantly strives to do things differently and do things better.”
Apple and Google Face UK Investigation Into Mobile Browser Dominance
Apple and Google aren't giving consumers a genuine choice of mobile web browsers, a British watchdog said Friday in a report that recommends they face an investigation under new U.K. digital rules taking effect next year.
The Competition and Markets Authority took aim at Apple, saying the iPhone maker's tactics hold back innovation by stopping rivals from giving users new features like faster webpage loading. Apple does this by restricting progressive web apps, which don't need to be downloaded from an app store and aren't subject to app store commissions, the report said.
"This technology is not able to fully take off on iOS devices," the watchdog said in a provisional report on its investigation into mobile browsers that it opened after an initial study concluded that Apple and Google effectively have a chokehold on "mobile ecosystems."
The CMA's report also found that Apple and Google manipulate the choices given to mobile phone users to make their own browsers "the clearest or easiest option."
And it said that the a revenue-sharing deal between the two U.S. Big Tech companies "significantly reduces their financial incentives" to compete in mobile browsers on Apple's iOS operating system for iPhones.
Both companies said they will "engage constructively" with the CMA.
Apple said it disagreed with the findings and said it was concerned that the recommendations would undermine user privacy and security.
Google said the openness of its Android mobile operating system "has helped to expand choice, reduce prices and democratize access to smartphones and apps" and that it's "committed to open platforms that empower consumers."
It's the latest move by regulators on both sides of the Atlantic to crack down on the... Read More