Creative director, jr. partner
Camp + King
1) Although it’s been a trend for the last few years, I think we’re finally seeing the effects of “fragmented” advertising. When I say that, I mean ads that don’t necessarily follow the traditional campaign format. Good brands embrace this and are truly looking at the medium to deliver the message, not just blowing out an idea that may have worked in your TV spot. And as mobile gets even more sophisticated with ad-blockers and such, telling a compelling story is going to be even more important to breakthrough. It’s really questioning what a “campaign” is. There’s been this old-school idea that people will view every single piece of work and process it or be entertained in the same way, regardless of the medium. That’s really changed in 2017. What I see from a brand is different from TV to YouTube to Snapchat.
2) We’re only as good as our creative so we invested heavily in beefing up our creative resources. Over the last year C+K Content Lab, our in-house production studio, added new talent and technologies. From Editors, 3-D animators, illustrators to developers, we’re trying to solve for ever-shrinking client budgets while maintaining a high level of craft. Sometimes that means bringing it in-house. Our social work for RE/MAX is a prime example of that, it’s a culmination of our creative teams working with our Content Lab to produce great work.
3) It’s hard to choose but I think the work we’ve done for DISH has been pretty great in terms of visibility (a small shop working with a big client) and creativity. Finding the right voice for our “Spokelistener” was tough but we’ve finally been able to nail a proper campaign for them and it seems to be doing well. We’re really lucky to be working with Martin Granger, he’s hilarious, super collaborative and great with talent. Each round of spots gets better and better.
4) Hopefully, instead of campaigns being slotted into every single media placement, you’ll see more meaningful pieces of content in fewer places but on better platforms. People want to be educated or entertained, not shouted at for the next limited-time offer. The brands that do that well will stand out.
5) For the agency, I’d love to continue listening more and talking less. As an industry, we love to talk about ourselves. There’s this inward navel-gazing that leads to work that a client is hesitant to buy. I think there’s a bigger challenge in listening to what a client is looking for and then bringing them along the journey of getting them to a good idea. It requires making more, but that’s the DIY spirit of Camp+King. I also don’t want to discount the fact that listening requires like-minded clients, its essential to making great work. Speaking of great work, we’ll be kicking off 2018 with a new round of spots for RE/MAX, directed by the wonderful Autumn De Wilde via Anonymous Content. It’s a fun comparison of people, their perfect homes and the agents that find them.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More