Lucia Grillo has been named U.S. head of operations for mcgarrybowen. Grillo joins the Dentsu Aegis Network (DAN) agency from Droga5. In her new role which she assumes in January, Grillo will oversee operations across mcgarrybowen’s three U.S.-based offices—New York, Chicago, and San Francisco—to create innovative workflow systems to drive excellence throughout the creative process in support of developing a world-class creative product for clients. The creation of the role comes as mcgarrybowen has experienced a surge of new business and expansion with the acquisition of digital innovation agency Swirl last year.
As the production development director at Droga5 since 2016, Grillo was a key member of the management team, working across departments and with new business, helping kick start new disciplines and create processes and working models for new and existing clients. Through her role as managing director of Second Child, Droga5’s in-house production company, she developed new revenue streams to help meet and exceed growth goals. Grillo also served as operations and production lead on the fast-paced Sprint business, which she helped run for the past two-plus years.
Prior to Droga5, Grillo worked at 360i, another Dentsu Aegis Network agency. At 360i, she was head of integrated production, VP, leading operations and resourcing for all of production and project management, and supervision of the digital, content, social, print, and broadcast disciplines. Before 360i, Grillo enjoyed a stint at VICE Media as a group account director. Prior to that, she spent 10 years at Psyop in New York, most recently serving as managing director. She started out her career in advertising in the production departments of JWT and McCann.
Patrick Lafferty, mcgarrybowen’s U.S. president, has made a number of strategic business hires in recent weeks, including another Droga5 alum, Matt Ian, as chief creative officer for mcgarrybowen New York; Mike Wente, from VML, as chief creative officer for San Francisco; and promoting Greg Johnson to U.S. chief innovation officer.
Grillo, who will report to Lafferty, said, “What we sell as agencies is our strategic thinking and our creative product. Our processes and management structure, everything we do within an agency, should service that, not get in the way of it or make it feel arduous. My goal is to look at what we are doing well at mcgarrybowen across offices and think about what best serves the work, the culture, the people, and optimize that, so we can make great work seamlessly. It’s a very simple mission.”
Grillo added, “The success of the agency is initially what drew me there, with the incredible momentum demonstrated through its streak of business wins and the acquisition of Swirl. What they have accomplished is very impressive, but what convinced me to make the move was the people. Everyone I met with at mcgarrybowen has that sense of hustle, and I found myself among like-minded people who are focused on what’s next for the agency and our industry. Being future-proof isn’t without effort, so I’m excited to join the agency at this time and do my part in making it easier to drive success for the agency and its clients.”
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
The one rule to follow is that... Read More