Two key management changes–one which already has taken hold, the other slated for January–have been announced by BBDO San Francisco. First, Jim Lesser has been promoted from executive creative director to chairman of BBDO S.F. And effective next month Mike McKay joins the agency as executive creative director. McKay comes over from Saatchi & Saatchi LA where he’s been executive creative director since 2008.
Both McKay and Lesser will partner with Brent Smart, managing director, and Nick Bartle, director of behavioral planning, to form BBDO San Francisco’s new executive management team.
At Saatchi, McKay worked on notable campaigns for clients such as Toyota and The Surfrider Foundation. Prior to that, he was a creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, from 2000 to 2008. McKay’s diverse portfolio includes work on such blue-chip brands as Apple, Netflix, Sony PlayStation, Comcast, HP, Budweiser, Haagen-Dazs and Nissan. At Goodby he had a creative hand in HP’s “The Computer Is Personal Again” campaign as well as the lauded Comcast “Rabbit” spot.
Lesser is a 19-year veteran of the advertising industry and has been with BBDO for the past 10 years, starting as an associate creative director and rising to his current role. Under his leadership, the creative department has more than tripled in size. He has personally worked on all of the agency’s accounts, even as it has added more than a dozen new clients and assignments and grown significantly in scope. Lesser began his career at the legendary Scali McCabe Sloves in New York.
DGA Feature Nominees: Audiard, Baker, Berger, Corbet and Mangold
The field of feature nominees for the Directors Guild of America (DGA) Awards spanning two categories is set. Nominated for the DGA honor for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 are: Jacques Audiard for Emilia Pérez, Sean Baker for Anora, Edward Berger for Conclave, Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, and James Mangold for A Complete Unknown.
The DGA also revealed the nominees for the Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film. The first-time narrative feature directors are: Payal Kapadia for All We Imagine as Light, Megan Park for My Old Ass, RaMell Ross for Nickel Boys, Halfdan Ullman Tondel for Armand, and Sean Wang for Diddy.
“2024 has been a truly extraordinary year for storytelling--and today’s nominees have created audacious and unique films that expand the possibilities of cinematic excellence,” said DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter. “I am thrilled to congratulate all our nominated directors for their brilliant work, which is visionary, inspirational and speaks to the depth of the human experience. To be chosen by one’s peers is the true marker of outstanding directorial achievement and what makes these nominations so very special.”
The winners will be announced at the 77th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, February 8.
Here’s a fuller rundown of the nominees in both DGA Award categories:
THEATRICAL FEATURE FILM
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2024 (in alphabetical order):
JACQUES AUDIARD
Emilia Pérez
(Netflix)
SEAN... Read More