Independent ad agency Ignited has appointed Eric Springer to serve as its first ever chief creative officer. He most recently was CCO at FCB/West running the L.A. and San Francisco offices and helping to launch Taco Bell’s “Live Mas” campaign and land new clients, including Levi’s.
Earlier while running the VW account at Deutsch, Springer had a hand in creating the lauded 2011 Super Bowl spot “The Force,” the most viral video of all time with over 65 million YouTube views and counting. He also helped grow a 15-person start-up into a 400-person machine, leading the agency’s transition to digital media, producing fully-integrated digital and viral campaigns on behalf of clients such as Volkswagen, Coors Light and General Motors.
Springer brings over 20 years of experience in the advertising industry, creating campaigns for top brands including Volkswagen, Levi’s, Taco Bell, General Motors and Coors. He has won awards at all of the top industry shows such as Cannes, One Show, D&AD, the AICP Show, EFFIEs and Communications Arts. His work is also part of the permanent display in The Advertising Hall of Fame, The Museum of Modern Art and The Smithsonian.
Prior to FCB, Springer was CCO, partner at Pitch, where he helped brand and grow the agency into a full-service shop.
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