Full-service digital agency Ueno has hired David Navarro as executive creative director for its NYC office and Elisabeth Boonin as U.S. executive technology director. Boonin will work out of the agency’s San Francisco office.
Navarro comes to Ueno from Stink Studios, NY, where he was creative director for the last year in charge of creative, art and design direction on selected projects and pitches. Clients included Alphabet, Samsung, Spotify, Calvin Klein, Pitchfork, Audible, Starbucks and Wired. As digital creative director/head of design for J. Walter Thompson (JWT) in Amsterdam from 2013 to 2016, he built and managed the digital team and oversaw the work of designers. Navarro was the creative and design lead for clients such as ING, Kit Kat, BMW, Puma, MINI and SPA. His work at JWT won a Grand Prix for Creative Data and a Grand Prix Cyber at Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in 2016.
Boonin comes from a background of building software products and teams from the ground up. Most recently, she was chief technology officer at Vela, a web-based platform that allows Etsy sellers to manage and edit their listings. Before that, she was chief technology officer at Rolltape, a social mobile app for sharing audio messages.
“I’ve wanted to hire David for years, but he’s been smart enough to say no. Until now! His creative vision and passion are an inspiration to anyone that sees his work,” said Ueno CEO Halli Thorleifsson. “I can’t think of anyone better suited to lead the creative team in our NYC office.”
Thorleifsson said of Boonin, “From the first time we met, I knew this was the person I wanted to lead our growing U.S. development teams. I’m very excited to see how she will help our already-amazing developers create even better work.”
Navarro will work on the Chubb, Facebook and Reuters accounts at Ueno, while Boonin will handle Chubb, Google, Uninterrupted and Uber. The agency’s other clients include ESPN, Airbnb, Dropbox, Apple, Visa, Fitbit, Verizon and Cisco.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More