Last month’s 50th Anniversary Issue of SHOOT included assorted reflections on mentorship. Consider this column an addendum to that coverage, the bookends being the induction back in March of Mike Hughes into The One Club’s Creative Hall of Fame, and last month’s hiring of Fabio Costa, formerly a creative director at Ogilvy Paris, to serve as a senior VP/creative director at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va.
Costa said he was drawn to his new roost in part by the chance to work with and learn from Hughes, president of The Martin Agency, and chief creative officer John Norman.
Costa is joining a long line of those who look to learn a lot from Hughes, which brings us to a college campus where a telling event took place between those two figurative bookends.
On Oct. 27, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Brandcenter building was formally named Mike Hughes Hall. Hughes has served as chairman of the VCU Brandcenter board since the inception of the school in 1995. He was instrumental in helping the school’s founder, Diane Cook-Tench, create and build a graduate program that’s now a leading advertising school.
“Without his support, leadership and dedication, the school would simply not exist,” said Rick Boyko, director of the Brandcenter. “…It is only fitting to have the building that houses the Brandcenter named in his honor.”
Dr. Michael Rau, VCU president, described Hughes as being “one of the industry’s most progressive change agents–His leadership as chairman of the VCU Brandcenter board resulted in a premier graduate advertising program. VCU is grateful for Mike’s commitment and thought leadership throughout the years, and is proud to name the building for him.”
Hughes has touched numerous lives through the Brandcenter and his daily work at The Martin Agency where he’s spent most of his career, starting there as a copywriter in 1978 and moving up the ranks.
Just prior to becoming the 47th person inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame, Hughes told SHOOT about his mentors. He first cited his predecessor at The Martin Agency, “the man who hired me–Harry Jacobs who is already in the Hall of Fame. He stands out but I’ve had so many heroes. In the 1970s, I’d look to Ed McCabe and David Abbott. In the ’80s, Lee Clow and Tom McElligott. I always kept tabs on what those people were doing. They were pure advertising people. I studied them. I could recite McCabe’s ads. I’d look through awards journals for their work.
“Later on,” continued Hughes, “I had the privilege of getting to know some of these people. From afar in Richmond, I had thought they were perfect. Now that I know them, I realize that they are just crazy. But it’s the kind of crazy that creates great work.”
As for an area in today’s evolving media landscape where a mentor could make a mark, Hughes related, “One thing I hope we can lead the way back to is craftsmanship. There isn’t as much craftsmanship in the business now as there was years ago. Things like design online, marketing in the digital space and social media haven’t been quite figured out yet. Those things haven’t had their Bernbach. This means there are opportunities for people to rise up and show how those things should be done.”
Mindy Kaling and Kate Hudson Take On Pro Basketball In Netflix Series “Running Point”
In Mindy Kaling's new Netflix series, "Running Point, " Kate Hudson stars as Isla Gordon, the new president of the Los Angeles Waves, a pro basketball team that's been run by her family for years. Hudson's character has to prove herself as a woman in a man's world not only to her passed-over brothers, but also to players whose egos need checking and other executives who don't take her seriously.
If Isla's story rings a bell, take a look at the list of executive producers on the 10-episode season dropping Thursday: Among them is Jeanie Buss, the president of the Los Angeles Lakers, who was embroiled in similar turmoil over control of the storied NBA franchise after the death of her father, Jerry Buss.
Buss not only has given the show her blessing, it was her idea said Kaling. Buss was a big fan of "The Office" and approached Kaling with the premise about five years ago. Kaling ended up as the co-creator, writer and executive producer alongside Ike Barinholtz and David Stassen.
"She's in a very serious, stressful job but she loves comedy. She does not take herself seriously," Kaling says of Buss. "That's really rare when someone has that much power and that much to lose."
Jeanie Buss' blessing
In fact, Kaling said, Buss wanted the show to be funny and had "no ego" about using her real life as inspiration.
"She's had some extremely interesting things happen to her as the president of the Lakers. Some of it is she literally dated the coach for many years and she's like, 'Do whatever you want,'" Kaling says, referring to Buss' former relationship with Phil Jackson. "To get that kind of carte blanche, I'd never heard that from someone who is so famous and, you know, pretty private."
Shortly after the news... Read More