Rick Dodds and Steve Howell, creative directors at Droga5 New York, have been promoted to executive creative directors at the agency’s London office. In their new leadership roles, Dodds and Howell will report to chief creative officer David Kolbusz.
Dodds and Howell have been creative partners for nearly 13 years, having first teamed at Buckinghamshire New University before beginning their professional careers together at Saatchi & Saatchi London where they turned out work for clients including Guinness, Visa and Weight Watchers, most notably creating T-Mobile’s “Dance,” “Sing-Along” and “Welcome Back (Heathrow)” campaigns. During their first tenure in the U.K., Dodds and Howell won 15 Cannes Lions, as well as the BTAA Grand Prix in both 2010 and 2011.
Seven years at Saatchi led to Dodds and Howell joining Droga5 NY in 2012 as art director and copywriter, respectively. They created campaigns for brand such as Puma, Under Armour, NRG, NYCFC and Strongbow Hard Cider. Dodds and Howell were appointed creative directors in 2013.
Following what was supposed to be a brief stint at Droga5 London, Dodds and Howell have decided to make a permanent move to their native England to work across the agency’s client roster and new business initiatives. The creative duo has most recently produced work for Hobbs’ “Make an Understatement” campaign, and they are currently working on Vita Coca, Radox, Impulse, Belstaff and Rustlers.
Howell noted, “Not many people get the chance to help run a creative department in London. And even fewer get the chance to run one with the name Droga5 above the door. We know how lucky we are and recognize the incredible responsibility and opportunity we have to make this agency as great as we know it can be.”
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