Chaka Sobhani has been named chief creative officer at Leo Burnett London. She comes over from Mother.
As CCO, Sobhani becomes part of a Burnett London sr. leadership team which also includes CEO Paul Lawson, chief strategy officer Josh Bullmore and deputy CEO Sarah Baumann.
Sobhani brings with her 20 years of experience from both the advertising and broadcast industries, notably setting up ITV Creative and becoming their first creative director.
She started her career as a comedy and performance writer in the broadcast arena which led to her joining US network Fox, creating their branding and advertising as they successfully launched their kids channels across Europe and the Middle East.
Sobhani went on to write and direct film and content for ITV, becoming the creative director of ITV Creative, ITV’s in-house agency. She built up ITV Creative to over 100 staff, overseeing innovative multi-platform ideas in every channel from TV, film, digital, experiential and social.
While at ITV Creative, Sobhani was responsible for creating campaigns for many of the channel’s top drama, entertainment and sport shows as well as the branding for all the ITV channels and platforms. As an award-winning director, she directed campaigns for Jonathan Ross, Ant and Dec, The Brits, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and Girls Aloud during her time at ITV Creative.
From ITV Creative, Chaka moved agency side to join Mother in 2013.
Mark Tutssel, chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide, said, “Chaka is a rare talent, a different flavor of CCO, whose non-traditional mix of experience is perfectly matched to the transformational needs of progressive clients.”
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More