Marla Ulrich has joined BBDO Atlanta as head of production. Ulrich will report to Robin Fitzgerald, chief creative officer, and oversee the agency’s integrated production offering. She was most recently head of production at DDB San Francisco.
“Production is more important today than ever before, with our brand partners’ increasing need for more and more content and the increased number of platforms available to production,” said Fitzgerald. “Marla’s background in integrated production, her unconventional approaches to solutions and her outstanding client skills were what convinced us she was exactly the right person to lead us forward in this pivotal area.”
For the last three years as DDB San Francisco’s head of production, Ulrich led an integrated team of producers to develop that shop’s in-house studio capabilities and create diverse media for a multitude of platforms. Before moving to DDB, she worked at DAVID The Agency, producing the global Coca-Cola broadcast work for the 2016 Olympic Games. Prior to that, she was a creative producer for Anomaly, New York and KesselsKramer, London and Amsterdam, working on projects for Budweiser, Google, Renaissance Hotels, Panera and Duracell, among others.
BBDO Atlanta has enjoyed recent success, capturing five Lions – one of which was Gold – at the International Festival for Creativity in Cannes. Work was for Street Grace, which is dedicated to stopping sex trafficking. The agency has also added new clients such as Kefi and Ibotta to its growing list, which also includes Honey Baked Ham, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Sanderson Farms.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More