Craft, a global marketing production and adaptation agency and a division of McCann Worldgroup, has promoted Shay Fu to managing director of Craft North America. Shay will continue to report to Craig Smith, Craft’s chief information and operations officer.
Fu joined Craft in 2013 as EVP/head of integrated operations, Craft New York, successfully growing the NY studio operations across all disciplines and building its digital production capabilities. Most recently, Fu extended her role to oversee production operations in the U.S. and Canada as head of studio operations across Craft’s North America network.
In her new role as managing director, Craft North America, Fu will retain responsibility for studio operations. Fu will also work under the strategic direction of Craft’s chief client officer, Simon Sikorski, and McCann Worldgroup’s North American leadership to nurture and grow all aspects of clients’ integrated production needs. She will build upon relationships with Craft’s regional and global clients such as Microsoft, L’Oréal and Coca-Cola.
“Under Shay’s leadership and direction, studio performance in North America has improved dramatically,” said Smith. “Her extensive experience in delivering production solutions together with her ability to build strong relationships with our key clients makes her perfectly suited to this key role within Craft.”
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