IPG creative company Elephant has promoted Chris May from executive creative director to the newly created position of chief creative officer. May, one of Elephant’s founding members, will be tasked with establishing the creative vision for Elephant, as well as attracting and retaining the best creatives and most diverse talent, both inside and outside of the industry. He will report directly to Elephant CEO Eric Moore.
As CCO, May will oversee creative for Elephant’s founding client, Apple, as well as clients across regions, including Comcast, Electronic Arts, Marc Jacobs, and Realtor.com. The creative department will continue to be structured with ECDs running each region, East and West, with May managing creative across both coasts. He will remain based in San Francisco.
Since joining Elephant in 2016, May has been pivotal in expanding Elephant’s creative offering with Apple, from design focused experiences to campaigns driving usage and adoption of the brand’s various digital services. In addition, May has been instrumental in growing Elephant’s client portfolio with notable wins including Beats by Dre, Kia Motors, Twitch, and Electronic Arts. His impact also extends to initiatives in support of Elephant’s ongoing commitment to change; leading the Elephant XD Academy, a creative boot camp for BIPOC students, and the rebrand of Fulfillment Fund, a Los Angeles-based mission-driven organization making college a reality for students growing up in educationally and economically under-resourced communities.
Prior to Elephant, May held creative leadership roles at Razorfish (Berlin) and AKQA (London and Berlin). Throughout his career, he has delivered cutting-edge solutions for major global brands including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Adidas, Channel 4, Montblanc, MTV and Sainsbury’s. His work has won recognition at Cannes, Epica, Clio, One Show and the FWA.
“I am honored to take on this new challenge as Elephant continues to evolve its positioning as a creative company moving ambitious brands into new worlds,” said May. “While my direct responsibilities are leadership of creative, our philosophy extends to the way we approach the world, independent of any single discipline. I look forward to fostering a diverse team of creative talent, unifying our vision and creating work that makes an impact.”
Juliette Welfling Takes On A Musical, A Crime Thriller, Comedy and Drama In “Emelia Pérez”
Editor Juliette Welfling has a track record of close-knit, heartfelt collaboration with writer-director Jacques Audiard, a four-time BAFTA Award nominee for Best Film not in the English Language--starting with The Beat That My Heart Skipped in 2006, then A Prophet in 2010, Rust and Bone in 2013, and Dheepan in 2017. He won for The Beat That My Heart Skipped and A Prophet.
Welfling cut three of those features: A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. And that shared filmography has since grown to most recently include Emelia Pérez, the Oscar buzz-worthy film from Netflix. Welfling herself is not stranger to Academy Award banter. In fact, she earned a Best Achievement in Film Editing Oscar nomination in 2008 for director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.
Emelia Pérez is a hybrid musical/drama/thriller which introduces us to a talented but undervalued lawyer named Rita (portrayed by Zoe Saldana) who receives a lucrative offer out of the blue from a feared drug cartel boss who’s looking to retire from his sordid business and disappear forever by becoming the woman he’s always dreamt of being (Karla SofÃa Gascón in a dual role as Manitas Del Monte/Emilia Pérez). Rita helps pull this off, orchestrating the faked death of Del Monte who leaves behind a widow (Jessi, played by Selena Gomez) and kids. While living comfortably and contently in her/their new identity, Pérez misses the children. Pérez once again enlists Rita--this time to return to family life, reuniting with the kids by pretending to be their aunt, the sister of Del Monte. Now as an aunt, Pérez winds up adopting a more altruistic bent professionally,... Read More