R/GA New York has added creative directors John McKelvey and Hannes Ciatti, who come over from Whybin BWAGroup Australia. Together they bring over 25 years of industry experience creating and leading campaigns for numerous global clients. At R/GA they will work across the Nike and Google accounts and report to Nick Law, exec VP, global chief creative officer.
McKelvey and Ciatti join R/GA after playing a key role in the resurgence of Whybin BWAGroup Australia, helping the agency achieve 16 new business wins. Between them, their work won the agency over 70 major creative and effectiveness awards. The agency was awarded Adnews’ Australian Agency Of The Year 2011, B&T Emerging Agency Of The Year 2011 and is now ranked the number one creative agency in Australia.
Prior to joining TBWA, McKelvey was the digital creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Australia. At Saatchi he created the “The Beer Economy” campaign for Tooheys New beer. The campaign went on to become the most effective and awarded integrated campaign in the brand’s history. He is also the co-founder of creative agency Southpaw, which worked directly with brands Virgin Atlantic and Lion Nathan and partnered with agencies Droga5, The Glue Society, and HOST to create award-winning work for Toyota, Lion Nathan, Young Guns and Cadbury.
Ciatti has worked for several of Europe and Australia’s top agencies including DDB, The Monkeys and M&C Saatchi delivering integrated campaigns for global brands VW, Sony PlayStation, Apple and Absolut. His recent work for the Pedigree Adoption Drive is one of Mars Pedigrees most awarded campaigns worldwide winning at Cannes, D&AD, One Show, Caples, Spikes, Adfest, New York Festival, AWARD and Digital Campaign of the Year. It was also named one of Facebook’s Top 50 Apps worldwide in 2011.
Directors Amy+Pilar and Jose Antonio Prat Join Reform School
Boutique content production company Reform has added comedy directing duo Amy+Pilar (Amy York Rubin and Pilar Boehm) and award-winning multicultural director Jose Antonio Prat to its roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded entertainment.
Partners in both life and art, Amy+Pilar are know for their sharp wit and comedic timing. Their synchronicity is evident in a body of work across TV, film and commercials. Prior to joining Reform School, Amy+Pilar had been repped in the ad market by production company Knucklehead.
Amy has directed high-profile comedy sketches featuring stars like Amy Schumer, Kate McKinnon, and Sarah Silverman. On the episodic front, Amy has helmed for series such as Fresh Off the Boat, Casual, Superstore and Angie Tribeca--as well as the pilot for the hit Netflix comedy Dead to Me.
Before joining forces with Amy behind the camera, Pilar was a psychotherapist, a background that informs her ability to create fascinating characters and stage irresistible, nuanced performances. Amy and Pilar’s shared passion for comedy brought them together. Their collaboration began with a Synchrony Bank campaign, starring cult-comedy favorite Maribeth Monroe (Workaholics), and they went on to direct the pilot of the Hulu series Love, Victor. Amy+Pilar’s ad fare also includes spots for Uber’s “Go-Get” campaign and “Shift,” starring Martin Starr.
“We have been fans of Amy and Pilar for a long time,” said Ryan Ennis, executive director at Reform School. “They excel at capturing comedic performances and dialogue. Coming from the TV and L.A. comedy scenes, they’ve built a strong following and collaborated with some of our favorite funny people.... Read More