Publicis Modem East in New York has brought Damian Claassens aboard to serve as senior VP/creative director, a newly created role at the agency. He comes over from AKQA, New York, where he was group creative director.
Claassens now reports to Patrick Clarke, executive VP/executive creative director of Publicis Modem East, and leads creative on the global LG account, among others. Claassens is the second high-profile creative lead hiring as of late for Publicis Modem USA, the digital specialist arm of Publicis Worldwide in the U.S. Last month David Shearer was named executive creative director of Publicis Modem West in San Francisco.
Claassens joined AKQA in New York in 2005, opening the office and developing its digital offering. He led global creative work for AKQA clients such as Nike, Coca-Cola, Motorola, Google, Smirnoff, DoubleClick, Kraft and Johnson & Johnson. With over 12-years in digital creative, Claassens’ work has been recognized by nearly every top award show including: Cannes, One Show, D&AD, New York Festivals, and IAB. Claassens is a native of Australia and his experience includes creative positions at Framfab, Copenhagen; Blueberry, London; Ogilvy Interactive, Sydney; and Leo Burnett, Sydney.
Publicis Modem East has expanded its staff to 230 and recently moved into a 55,000 square foot new headquarters space in NYC.
Directing and Editing “Conclave”; Insights From Edward Berger and Nick Emerson
It’s been a bruising election year but this time we’re referring to a ballot box struggle that’s more adult than the one you’d typically first think of in 2024. Rather, on the industry awards front, the election being cited is that of the Pope which takes front and center stage in director Edward Berger’s Conclave (Focus Features), based on the 2016 novel of the same title by Robert Harris. Adapted by screenwriter Peter Straugham, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal leading the conclave that has convened to select the next Pope. While part political thriller, full of backstabbing and behind-closed-door machinations, Conclave also registers as a thoughtful adult drama dealing with themes such as a crisis of faith, weighing the greater good, and engaging in a struggle that’s as much about spirituality as the attainment of power.
Conclave is Berger’s first feature after his heralded All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of four Oscars in 2023, including for Best International Feature Film. And while Conclave would on the surface seem to be quite a departure from that World War I drama, there’s a shared bond of humanity which courses through both films.
For Berger, the heightened awareness of humanity hit home for him by virtue of where he was--in Rome, primarily at the famed Cinecittà studio--to shoot Conclave, sans any involvement from the Vatican. He recalled waking up in Rome to “soak up” the city. While having his morning espresso, Berger recollected looking out a window and seeing a priest walking about with a cigarette in his mouth, a nun having a cup of coffee, an archbishop carrying a briefcase. It dawned on Berger that these were just people going to... Read More