R/GA has hired Tiffany Rolfe as U.S. chief creative officer. In this role she will be responsible for creating and championing a creative vision for R/GA in the U.S., curating and nurturing creative talent, and driving transformational creative work that delivers business impact for clients. She will begin work at R/GA in early December.
Rolfe is well known for her consultative creative approach and brings with her over 20 years of design and creative experience garnered from her decade-long tenure at CP+B where she was VP, executive creative director, and then six years at Co:collective as partner and chief creative officer. Her work has earned awards at every major creative and effectiveness competition including Best of Show at One Show, Grand Prix and Titanium Lions at Cannes, and a Grand Clio. Past clients include PepsiCo, Google, American Express, Old Navy, MINI Cooper, Microsoft, YouTube, Puma, IBM, and the ACLU.
“Tiffany is a rare talent in the industry who has proven, time and again, the ability to solve complex business challenges with innovative creative solutions,” said Sean Lyons, president R/GA, U.S. “Her ability to lead and inspire teams across a wide set of creative disciplines with strength, style, and grace makes her a perfect fit for R/GA.”
Rolfe related, “R/GA has always had an amazing ability to shapeshift for the future and they are so well-positioned for the challenges our industry faces now. I can’t wait to tap into their vast capabilities and incredible talent to create what’s next at the intersection of business and culture.”
Rolfe’s creative partner will be Richard Ting, a 17-year veteran of R/GA, who will also serve as a U.S. chief creative officer. Together they will draw on their individual and complementary expertise to manage the creative leadership and drive the work across all creative disciplines in R/GA’s six U.S. offices.
“At this moment of great disruption, R/GA has a tremendous opportunity to re-set the bar for creative excellence and effectiveness,” said Ting. “I am thrilled to welcome Tiffany to R/GA and look forward to working together to deliver transformational work for our clients.”
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