Jason Elm has been appointed chief creative officer of DDB California. In this role, Elm will lead the California creative department and will be responsible for all its output. He reports to Mike Harris, CEO of DDB California.
Elm fills the CCO role previously held by Lisa Bennett who became executive VP, creative at DDB North American in January.
Prior to joining DDB, Elm served as executive VP, group creative director at Deutsch LA, where he oversaw all Diamond Foods brands, such as Pop Secret, Emerald Nuts and Kettle Brand Chips. Most recently, he helmed the Sony PlayStation account for five years.
A Los Angeles native, Elm joined Deutsch in 1998 as a copywriter and was a key part of the agency’s culture and growth for 15 years, penning ads for clients including Expedia.com, Coors Light, DirecTV, California Milk Advisory Board and Mitsubishi. Elm began his career with stints at Southern California agencies including Bozell and Lois/Colby.
Elm is well known for having personally created the Twitter feed for PlayStation’s @TheKevinButler, which became the most-followed brand character on Twitter. His California Cheese “Happy Cows–Sprinkler” spot was voted “Best of SuperBowl XXXVIII” by CBS, and the PlayStation “To Michael” film was awarded in Cannes, The One Show, D&AD and Clios.
Michelle Satter To Be Honored At Sundance Film Festival Gala
The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced details for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute, which will take place on Friday, January 24, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah. The event will be an evening in celebration of Michelle Satter, founding sr. director of artist programs at Sundance Institute, for her longstanding commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs, where visionary artists convene to develop groundbreaking projects through an in-depth creative process, for the past four decades. The annual Vanguard Awards will be presented during the evening to Sean Wang, writer and director of Dìdi, and Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, co-directors of Sugarcane, who premiered their films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The annual gala enables the nonprofit to raise funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists from all over the world. The 2025 event is made possible with the generous support of Google TV. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online from January 30–February 2, 2025 for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling.
“For over four decades Michelle has been devoted to truly championing independent storytellers,” said Amanda Kelso, acting CEO of Sundance Institute. “She has encouraged artists to own their voice, learn their craft, become fierce leaders, and develop their resilience in our changing ecosystem. Her life-long commitment to supporting artists, especially in underrepresented... Read More