Droga5 New York has promoted executive producers Jesse Brihn and Bryan Litman to the joint role of co-heads of broadcast production, reporting to chief creation officer Sally-Ann Dale.
Brihn joined Droga5 in February 2015 and has led campaigns for clients such as Google, Johnsonville, Air Wick and Hennessy, including the most recent Hennessy V.S.O.P film, “Harmony. Mastered from Chaos.” He joined Droga5 from Wieden+Kennedy New York, where he ran production on the Nike Jordan brand account. Prior to W+K, he spent six years at BBDO New York, where he produced large-scale transmedia productions for clients including Starbucks, Save the Children and AT&T, as well as campaign work for FedEx, the American Red Cross and HBO, among others. He started his career in San Francisco, working on short films before joining Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, then moving to TBWAChiatDay and later Cutwater, where he worked on Ray-Ban, adidas, Motorola and Jeep.
Litman joined Droga5 in October 2015 and has been leading the charge on the Chase and Pizza Hut accounts since arriving at the agency. Prior to joining Droga5, he worked at a number of New York agencies, producing integrated campaigns for clients such as Verizon, Comcast and the New York Lottery. This followed a six-year stretch at Leo Burnett Chicago, where he launched the “Mayhem” campaign for Allstate and worked on accounts including Travelocity, Sprint and Hallmark. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he studied film, Litman cut his teeth in commercial production as a producer/editor for six years with Bob Giraldi at Giraldi Suarez Productions.
“It’s an amazing opportunity,” said Litman of his new role at Droga5. “At no other time in the history of this industry have unique production methodologies been as creatively relevant to the work we do. If you are pushing the boundaries of how you tell a story, the process itself can be a creative incubator. I don’t think there is an agency that understands that—and encourages it—more than Droga5.”
Brihn commented, “Truly great creative is a product of its idea, execution and context. Droga5 has pioneered this since its inception, and Bryan and I are extremely proud to be leading a team of brilliant creators as we develop new approaches and opportunities to advance the work.”
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More