John Norman, currently executive creative director at Wieden+Kennedy’s (W+K) Amsterdam office, will join The Martin Agency in February as chief creative officer.
During his first year with the Richmond-headquartered Martin, Norman will share the CCO title with Mike Hughes, president of the agency.
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Hughes. “I’m planning to remain as president of the agency for as long as our clients will put up with me. And I’ll stay in the creative department as long as John wants me there. That said, all of our creative directors, writers and art directors will report up to John from his first day at the agency.”
During the course of two stints at W+K, Norman created notable work for Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Nike, Tanqueray Gin, Electronic Arts, Nokia, Heineken and Honda. Among his notable credits is the lauded Coke spot “Happiness Factory.”
“It’s been an incredible experience working with the talented international team at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam,” said Norman. “Making the decision to leave was not easy, but I could not pass up the opportunity to work alongside Mike Hughes and [CEO] John Adams at one of the best agencies in the U.S.
Norman, 43, a native Texan, has a range of experience that extends well beyond W+K. He earlier served as a graphic designer for Nike in Oregon, a design director for Benetton in Treviso, Italy, and a director for Benetton’s Fabrica creative laboratory. As a group creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, he helped develop the acclaimed “+HP” campaign (with its “Picture Book” TV spots) for Hewlett-Packard.
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
The degree of inherent difficulty was ramped up even further because Deadpool & Wolverine had to seamlessly bring together high action-adventure exploits with moments and dialogue that tickled the funny bone. There’s a mesh of humorous banter--a staple of the franchise--along with major spectacle replete with explosions, fights, an impactful score and off-the-wall musical numbers.
Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More