Digital creative agency RED has hired Dan Neumann as head of strategy. Neumann joins RED from Droga5, where he served as group strategy director for six years. He will report to RED CEO and fellow long-time Droga5 veteran, Nick Phelps, who joined the agency six months prior. RED is owned by holding company Endeavor (formerly WME-IMG), which is also a minority investor in Droga5.
In his newly created role, Neumann will be responsible for developing an impact-focused strategy discipline within the agency. Neumann brings 12 years of industry experience to RED, having worked on big name brands including American Express Travel, Blizzard Entertainment, Coke Zero, Newcastle Brown Ale, Strongbow, Tencent Games, and T-Mobile, to name a few. Prior to Droga5, Neumann served as sr. digital strategist at Wieden + Kennedy NYC.
In addition to hiring a head of strategy, RED has also implemented a refresh of its creative leadership by promoting Roni Sebastian to executive creative director and Emily Zaborniak to group creative director.
Sebastian brings more than 17 years of industry experience to his new role with expertise spanning creative strategy, integrated marketing, interaction and interface design, user experience, branding and creative leadership. As ECD, he will be tasked with guiding the vision and inspiring cross-discipline teams to develop advertising that consumers can engage with and enjoy.
Zaborniak combines her decade of marketing experience at major agencies with her knack for storytelling. Her dedication to great work has led to wins at Cannes Lions, The One Show, and other numerous award shows. As GCD, she will be overseeing multiple client accounts, guiding the creative team, and leading cultural initiatives such as the RED Women’s Group.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More