Executive creative director Renato Fernandez has been elevated to chief creative officer of TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles. A six-year veteran of the agency, Fernandez steps into the role last held by Brent Anderson, who moved to TBWAMedia Arts Lab to become chief creative officer. Fernandez, who has led creative on the agency’s Gatorade account both in the U.S. and globally, will remain at the helm of the sports fuel brand while also assuming creative leadership across the agency’s full roster of clients and overseeing the creative department.
“Renato is a master craftsman, and his ability to tell stories across multiple platforms and media is second to none,” said Stephen Butler, creative chairman, TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles. “He challenges himself to create impactful ideas while solving big problems.”
Fernandez has been with TBWAChiatDay since 2011, when he relocated from Brazil to Los Angeles to serve as associate creative director. He is recognized as one of the industry’s best integrated creative directors, delivering the type of epic, culturally relevant work that is a hallmark of TBWAChiatDay, while pushing boundaries of technology and social with thoroughly modern creative ideas.
In 2014, he assumed creative leadership of the agency’s Gatorade U.S. business and, in 2015, took over all global projects as worldwide creative director. He is credited with awarding-winning work that includes Gatorade’s now legendary farewell films for retiring athletes Derek Jeter (“Made in New York”), Abby Wambach (“Forget Me”) and Peyton Manning (“Dear Peyton.”) As executive creative director, he led the brand’s successful launch of the first in-app Snapchat multi-level video game honoring Serena Williams in her quest to win a 23rd Grand Slam victory as well as new work for Principal Financial, set to break in the coming months.
Erin Riley, president of TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles, added, “Renato is relentless in his pursuit of excellence and his passion is palpable, I can think of no one better to inspire, drive, and diversify our creative output. He’s also an exceptional creative leader and a collaborative, inclusive partner to clients and our people.”
Fernandez began his advertising career in 1994 in his hometown of Curitiba, Brazil and later joined Almap/BBDO, where he worked on top-tier brands including Volkswagen, Gatorade and Havaianas. Throughout his career, his work has been recognized at all the major international creative festivals and award shows, including Cannes Lions, D&AD, Clios, Clio Sports, and the One Show. Fernandez was part of the creative leadership team that in 2016 helped deliver TBWAChiatDay Los Angeles’ most successful Cannes performance in six years, with 10 Lions and 31 shortlists awarded in June across a wide array of categories including Mobile, Cyber, Innovation, PR, Outdoor and Film Craft. In March, Fernandez will curate the Brazilian Directors Showcase at SXSW in Austin, Texas, in partnership with FilmBrazil.
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 โ and those many "Babadook" memes โ 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 โ "Bah-Bah-Doooook" โ 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