James Tucker has joined DDB New York as associate creative director. He will report to Matt Eastwood, chief creative officer of DDB NY. Tucker had most recently served as sr. art director at Colenso BBDO New Zealand, overseeing the launch of a new global campaign of Tourism Fiji and the re-launch of Export Dry and Monteith’s. Previously, he held an art director position at DDB New Zealand working on campaigns for New Zealand Lotteries, Sky Television, and Volkswagen..BIGSMACK, an entertainment marketing and creative agency led by chief creative Andy Hann and head of marketing Andrew Kobliska, has added Kevin Lahr as executive producer/director of production. Lahr joins BIGSMACK following five-plus years at Discovery Communications where he worked at the cable giant’s flagship Discovery Channel, as well as Science Channel and Investigation Discovery. Hann first met Lahr back in late 2006 when he hired him as a producer at Concrete Pictures. Lahr began his career as an agency producer at New York-based shops Griffin Bacal and D’Arcy, before taking a huge left turn to become a producer at Shoot NZ Film Company in Queenstown, NZ. Lahr later returned to the U.S. as an executive producer at PBS headquarters in Arlington, VA. Following three years at PBS, he joined Hann at Concrete Pictures in 2006, leaving in 2007 to join Discovery Communications in Silver Spring, Maryland….Tony Verderosa’s music house, Thwak!, has officially relaunched as KBV Music. The new brand emphasizes the activities of Verderosa’s KBV Records label, which has a track record of artist development since being founded in 2009. The boutique music company has already won a high-profile placement under its new moniker, supplying Royal Caribbean and agency JWT with the raw rock track “Let’s Get It On” by the KBV Records artist Romans….
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More