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.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More