Independent agency Cutwater has brought on board Stephanie Foster as business development director, Michael Huntley as exec producer, William Yen as media executive, and Rebeca Schefkind as art director.
In the agency’s newly created role of business development director, Foster will be responsible for finding clients that are in need of a Cutwater, a platform for their brand that cuts through the noise. A strategic thinker, team leader and creative problem solver, Foster formerly managed multidisciplinary teams for traditional, digital and experiential campaigns for clients, including Facebook, Instagram, Audi, TaskRabbit, Phillips 66, 76, Conoco, Russian Standard Vodka, French’s Foods, 1% for the Planet and Tyra Banks. Additionally, she spent time as the VP of Branding & Marketing at a startup incubator in Silicon Valley where her primary focus was advising early to late stage startups on marketing and branding challenges, such as go-to-market strategies and creating branding identities.
EP Huntley will oversee all production of Cutwater campaigns and projects. Prior to joining the agency, he worked at Argonaut, leading its interactive production department. Earlier he was the head of integrated production at Grey San Francisco. Huntley has extensive experience in interactive, broadcast, and print and has worked with agencies such as Goodby Silverstein & Partners, AKQA, Venables Bell & Partners, McCann Erickson and Eleven. His work for brands including Audi, Sprint, Intel, Microsoft, EA, MetLife, X-Box, Fitbit, and Virgin has been recognized by various award shows, including Cannes, D&AD, Effies, One Show, Addys, Webbys and FWA.
Yen will be responsible for managing search and display media activity for Cutwater’s clients. Prior to joining the team, Yen worked at Resolution Media. During his tenure there, his duties and responsibilities focused around SEM (search engine marketing), which now acts as the cornerstone of his skill set. He is currently working on expanding his knowledge horizontally into other channels to be able to create more holistic marketing solutions for improving both brand awareness and acquisition.
Prior to Cutwater, Schefkind was an art director at Mekanism working on brands including Pepsi, Ben & Jerry’s, MSNBC, Aquafina, Ralph Lauren, and Starbucks. Schefkind started her ad career at mcgarrybowen NY.
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