TBWAChiatDay New York has named Amy Ferguson as its chief creative officer. For Ferguson, who began her career at the agency and then returned in 2018, the promotion to CCO is the culmination of a 17-year ascent within the industry. She assumes creative leadership of TBWAChiatDay NY’s full roster of clients, which includes Abbott, Hilton, Mayo Clinic, MTN DEW, Nissan, and Travelers Insurance.
With the promotion, Ferguson joins the agency’s executive leadership team and will report to CEO Nancy Reyes.
One of the first residents of the agency’s Young Bloods creative program in 2004, Ferguson was responsible for reigniting the initiative this year–reaffirming TBWA’s commitment to supporting diverse creative talent. Not to be confused with an internship, the paid placement sees residents at all stages of their careers work alongside members of the agency’s creative department on client briefs and projects.
From earned, owned and paid media, Ferguson–named to the inaugural Clio Creators list–has a proven history of creating non-traditional creative campaigns that span the entire communications ecosystem.
After Ferguson’s first stint at TBWAChiatDay, she went to Grey New York to work on E-trade and produced a wildly popular and awarded “Talking Babies” Super Bowl spot. She was one of the first hires at MullenLowe New York, where she and longtime creative partner Julia Neumann were brought in to kick-start the office and serve as creative directors on the JetBlue business, resulting in the airline’s hugely successful viral Mother’s Day film, “FlyBabies.”
And in 2018, Ferguson returned to TBWAChiatDay NY alongside Neumann to serve as executive creative directors. Notably, Ferguson was at the creative helm for globally award-winning work including adidas’ “Billie Jean King Your Shoes” and MTN DEW’s “Major Millions”—campaigns that broke industry conventions and delivered exceptional business results.
CEO Reyes said of Ferguson, “There is not a kinder, more intelligent or creative person better placed to propel our agency forward, and I can’t wait to see the kick-ass work we’ll produce for our partners. Amy is a natural, collaborative leader, and her modern thinking has and will continue to deliver groundbreaking work for our clients.”
Supported by an incredibly talented roster of ECDs, alongside her agency duties, Ferguson will join TBWA’s Global Creative Core, a select group of top creative leaders from across the TBWA collective chosen to help execute the company’s vision.
“I’m beyond excited to step into the CCO role here at Chiat,” added Ferguson. “When I was coming up, I didn’t encounter many female creative leaders and even fewer mothers. I have a theory that a mom of three under five can do this job and do it well. Luckily, I’m surrounded by wonderful, supportive people who also believe it’s possible, and I can’t wait to get started.”
Ferguson continued, “I look forward to pushing the work to brave, new places while staying true to the amazing creative standard that’s a part of this agency’s DNA and taking the opportunity to prioritize culture and collaboration.”
Next year, Young Bloods will again seek creative talent from diverse backgrounds to celebrate and reflect the multicultural nature of America–beautiful CVs, websites and top portfolio schools are not prerequisites in the selection process.
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More