Britt Nolan appointed new CCO of North America
Ari Weiss has been promoted to the role of chief creative officer of DDB Worldwide, expanding his remit to include creative responsibilities of the global network. His first hire in the new role names Britt Nolan as his successor as chief creative officer for DDB North America. Nolan most recently served as co-president and chief creative officer of Leo Burnett U.S.
“As a global agency network that bears Bill Bernbach’s name and believes that creativity is the most powerful force in business, it’s critical to have leaders who constantly champion, provoke and expand creativity in all of its forms, potential and impact,” said Wendy Clark, CEO, DDB Worldwide. “Ari’s career is best characterized as doing just that. Under his creative leadership the last two years, our North America region has seen a resurgence in business-impacting, award-winning work and high-caliber creative recruiting. I couldn’t be more excited to work together again on a global scale.”
Weiss joined DDB in 2016, nearly a year after Clark was appointed North America CEO of the Omnicom network. As part of the resurgence, Weiss has led the region to a total of 38 Lions perhaps best known for campaigns like “The Flip” for McDonald’s, where the iconic “M” arches were flipped to a “W” for International Women’s Day; and “Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical” for Mars Wrigley Confectionery. The one-night-only show premiered on Broadway during Super Bowl Sunday in place of a TV ad during the game.
These campaigns helped secure DDB Worldwide as the No. 2 Most Creative Network of the Year at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, and the No. 1 Most Creative Network of the Year at One Show and D&AD for 2019.
Nolan comes to DDB after 10 years at Leo Burnett, most recently as co-president and CCO based in Chicago. While there, Nolan oversaw work that won more than 50 Cannes Lion awards and many more across international shows including the Effies, the One Show and Clios.
Nolan is perhaps best known most recently for his award-winning campaigns like “Legal-ade” for Kraft, which established protections and a legal defense fund for children running lemonade stands in the U.S.; “Ostrich” for Samsung as part of the brand’s #DoWhatYouCan’t campaign highlighting the VR technology of the Samsung S8 and S8+; and “Van Gogh Bnb” for the Art Institute of Chicago, which allowed visitors to spend a night in an interactive replica of the artist’s 1888 painting ‘Bedroom at Arles’ via Airbnb, and which later went on to win the Creative Effectiveness Grand Prix at Cannes in 2017.
“Jealousy is a powerful motivator in the creative community, and Britt Nolan has been making me jealous for many, many years,” said Weiss. “I’m confident in not only his ability to keep raising the bar higher in North America, but also in his ability to partner with me and our leaders across the region to continue finding the best ways to provide our clients best-in-class creative output.”
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More