Laura Desmond, global CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group, has been named chair of the board of directors of the Advertising Council. She succeeds Debra L. Lee, chairman and CEO of BET Networks. David Kenny, CEO of The Weather Company, has been announced as vice chair of media, joining vice chair of advertisers, David Christopher, CMO of AT&T Mobility.
Desmond will be board chair through June 2015 when she will be succeeded by Christopher.
Peggy Conlon, president & CEO of the Ad Council, said of Desmond, “Laura is one of this country’s most respected leaders in the media and advertising communities, and her business acumen, marketing expertise and outstanding leadership will be instrumental to furthering our mission and the goals of our campaigns.”
With Desmond’s election, the Ad Council will continue its ongoing tradition of rotating board chairs every year between the organization’s founding sectors: media companies, advertising agencies and corporate advertisers.
Desmond joined the Ad Council board in 2009 and joined its executive committee and became vice chair of the organization in 2012. Under her leadership, the Ad Council’s pro bono work with media agencies has increased significantly.
Desmond has served as global CEO of Starcom MediaVest Group since 2008 and during that time has garnered significant new business from both new and existing clients, including Procter & Gamble, Samsung, Coca-Cola, Mars, Mondelez, Kellogg’s, Honda, Walmart and Kraft Foods.
The Ad Council is a private, non-profit organization with a rich history of marshalling volunteer talent from the advertising and media industries to deliver critical messages to the American public. Having produced literally thousands of PSA campaigns addressing the most pressing social issues of the day, the Ad Council has affected, and continues to affect, tremendous positive change by raising awareness, inspiring action and saving lives.
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More