Atlanta-headquartered agency Ammunition has hired Alex Russell as chief creative officer, while Ankur Goel joins as chief operating officer. Russell’s extensive experience includes notable campaigns for Volkswagen, leading the global rebranding of Intel, and co-leading campaigns for AT&T. Russell joins Ammunition after serving as the former executive creative director at KO:OP, Coca-Cola’s in-house agency, chief creative officer at Genexa, and SVP creative director for BBDO Worldwide. Before joining Ammunition, Goel served as chief commercial officer for Lawn and Garden LLC over the Gilmour, Nelson, and Jobes brands. Prior to that, he spent seven years in key positions at Samsung Electronics Americas, where most recently he served as VP/GM of sales and marketing in Samsung’s Digital Appliance business. Before Samsung, Goel spent 12 years in management consulting with stops at Gartner, PwC, and Capgemini, where he led global teams building brands like Mattel, Avis, Coca-Cola, ExxonMobil, HP, Honda, and Goodyear. Both Russell and Goel officially start on January 2, 2024…
Havas has acquired Klareco Communications–Singapore homegrown agency and a leading corporate, financial and strategic communications consultancy in Southeast Asia–to strengthen its global strategic communications advisory arm, H/Advisors, in Asia-Pacific. The addition of Klareco Communications represents an important next step in H/Advisors’ strategic growth plan. Upon closing of the deal, Klareco Communications will be renamed H/Advisors Klareco. The agency is a trusted advisor to world-leading multinationals and Asia-headquartered companies, known for its award-winning work across the full spectrum of communications from protecting and elevating corporate reputations, advising on some of Singapore’s largest financial transactions and tackling the most complex business challenges such as cyber-attacks. H/Advisors Klareco and its senior management team will take on a significant role within the strategic advisory network. The local leadership includes CEO and co-founder Ang Shih-Huei, and managing director and co-founder Mark Worthington who will join the Asia board to help direct and lead the expansion of H/Advisors in Asia-Pacific….
“Megalopolis” Is One From The Heart–Of A Reflective Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola believes he can stop time.
It's not just a quality of the protagonist of Coppola's new film "Megalopolis," a visionary architect named Cesar Catilina ( Adam Driver ) who, by barking "Time, stop!" can temporarily freeze the world for a moment before restoring it with a snap of his fingers. And Coppola isn't referring to his ability to manipulate time in the editing suite. He means it literally.
"We've all had moments in our lives where we approach something you can call bliss," Coppola says. "There are times when you have to leave, have work, whatever it is. And you just say, 'Well, I don't care. I'm going to just stop time.' I remember once actually thinking I would do that."
Time is much on Coppola's mind. He's 85 now. Eleanor, his wife of 61 years, died in April. "Megalopolis," which is dedicated to her, is his first movie in 13 years. He's been pondering it for more than four decades. The film begins, fittingly, with the image of a clock.
"It's funny, you live your life going from being a young person to being an older person. You're looking in that direction," Coppola said in a recent interview at a Toronto hotel before the North American premiere of "Megalopolis." "But to understand it, you have to look in the other direction. You have to look at it from the point of view of the older looking at the younger, which you're receding from."
"I'm sort of thinking of my life in reverse," Coppola says.
You have by now probably heard a few things about "Megalopolis." Maybe you know that Coppola financed the $120 million budget himself, using his lucrative wine empire to realize a long-held vision of Roman epic set in a modern New York. You might be familiar with the film's clamorous reception from critics... Read More