NA Collective–an independent hybrid creative, experiential production agency–has hired Benjamin Porter as its director of strategy. Porter will report directly to founding partner and chief creative officer Chiara Adin, while also working alongside Jennifer Whitney, the creative director hired this past winter. Porter will oversee strategy for Twitter and SoundCloud, among other clients launching this fall.
Porter spent the last four years at strategy and design practice Sub Rosa where he was an account lead and strategist creating integrated campaigns and brand initiatives for Nike, HBO, Marriott, Herman Miller, and Infiniti. Prior to Sub Rosa, Porter spent over three years at Winkreative, the branding arm of Monocle Magazine, where he served as account manager, looking after the agency’s North American client roster.
Director Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” Wins People’s Choice Award At The Toronto Film Fest
The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award went to “The Life of Chuck,” handing director-writer Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation one of the most-watched prizes of the fall film festival circuit.
The award for “The Life of Chuck” was announced Sunday (9/15) as North American’s largest film festival drew to a close. “The Life of Chuck,” based on King’s 2020 novella of the same name, stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz, an ordinary man living through apocalyptic cataclysms. Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Jacob Tremblay co-star.
TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is regarded as a reliable Oscar harbinger. Since 2012, every winner of the festival’s top prize has gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Last year, Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” won, and went on to be a major awards contender.
But “The Life of Chuck” could test that track record. The film is up for sale and doesn’t yet have distribution. It could be acquired and quickly readied for release this fall, or it might end up a 2025 release. “The Life of Chuck” drew mixed — though mostly positive reviews — out of Toronto, though audiences were clearly charmed by the uplifting drama.
Runners-up for the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by festival attendees, were both films that first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The first was Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.” The second runner-up was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes.
The audience award for top documentary went to Mike Downie’s “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.” In the festival’s Midnight Madness section, the prize went to... Read More