Bicoastal creative content company, Chromista has brought director Candice Vernon aboard its roster. Vernon is a filmmaker, writer, and creative director known for creating high profile celebrity, comedy, and documentary content.
Originally hailing from the island of Jamaica, Vernon grew up splitting her time between the United States and the Jamaican parish of St. Ann as well as Germany. Moving between these three very different countries gave her a uniquely diverse experience and outlook on humans as subjects, and further piqued her interest in storytelling. Vernon’s film aspirations started from a young age, starting with her learning the American dialect from episodes of I Love Lucy. Vernon’s curiosity and creativity then led her to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in film and television at Temple University. She then became an executive producer at an ad agency and then a creative director at Buzzfeed, ultimately leading her to her life’s path as a director of celebrity and comedy films.
Vernon’s most notable project, The Dream Still Lives–a tribute film from Stevie Wonder and CAA–commemorated the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s passing. Over the course of that project, Vernon worked alongside acting giants Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro, as well as the Obamas. Her short film Make America Great?, which she wrote and directed, screened at Cannes Short Film corner and won the audience award at both the Zero Film Festival and The National Black Film Festival. Vernon has also directed for clients such as NBA2K, Svedka Vodka, Warner Media|HBO, P&G: Cascade, Unilever: Vaseline, Spotify, Hulu, BuzzFeed, Facebook Watch, Instagram, Chico’s and The Bob Marley Foundation to name a few.
Adina Birnbaum, executive producer at Chromista, said, “We’re already incredibly grateful to have Candice on board at Chromista. Her creative spark is contagious and immediately gets everyone else on set going. The spot she directed for NBA2K was a joy from pre- to postproduction and I think that’s due to Candice’s clarity of vision, sense of humor, and ability to hone in on the quickest, best way to tell a story in the commercial space. Her sense of narrative is sharp and so is her wit. She really takes everything to the next level and we’re so excited to be a part of her creative journey.”
Vernon–who had most recently been directing independently prior to joining Chromista, said, “Comedy is not the easiest genre to break into, but I was determined to show and prove that women are not only funny in front of the camera, but we’re funny behind the scenes too. My whole career has been dedicated to breaking barriers and stereotypes, so landing NBA2K was right in step with my vision for my career path. This was not possible without the team at Chromista believing in me and the transition that I was seeking in my career. I feel so lucky to have landed with this family.”
Vernon is also the host and leader of Soho House West Hollywood’s Women In Film Club and is currently developing her debut feature film.
Forsman & Bodenfors Shifts Its Singapore Group Creative Director Ivan Guerra to Its NYC Hub
Forsman & Bodenfors (F&B) has expanded its creative leadership in New York by relocating longtime group creative director Ivan Guerra from the Singapore office to the Big Apple to support a quickly growing list of new client wins.
As a group creative director in Singapore, Guerra racked up numerous accolades and participated in a myriad of new business wins that fueled the agency’s growth year over year. He explained why now was the right time to come back to the states, adding more nuance in the process. ”Singapore is the business hub of Asia, New York is the business hub of the world,” he said. “Our office in Singapore was small when I arrived. Since then, we’ve more than tripled in size, and became the [number one] most creative agency in the country, and work with more and bigger clients than ever before. There’s always more to be done, but the agency I’m leaving behind is in fantastic shape and ready to take on the world, as I know they will.”
For Guerra, there’s an opportunity to replicate in New York the success he had in Singapore. During his career, he repositioned and promoted businesses and products across a wide variety of markets and industries including P&G, Coca-Cola and Booking.com. Some of his well-known work includes a campaign that increased Samsung’s sales in the Middle East by almost 200%, one of the most iconic films in the history of Converse, Verizon’s most successful sports partnership program “Data Dunk” with the NBA, and a “Proud Whopper” campaign in 2014 that reignited Burger King and garnered 13 Cannes Lions and a Grand Clio.
Coming back to New York after 15 years in the business, including a stint where he spent time at the likes of top-shelf agencies like R/GA,... Read More