Advertising agency Fitzgerald & Co. has hired creative directors Mike Groenewald and Bowen Mendelson to work exclusively on the agency’s growing Coca-Cola business at Fitzco//McCann, its dedicated Coke unit. The pair will report to executive creative directors Wes Whitener and Mitch Bennett.
Fitzco has increased its headcount almost 25% in 2016 and recruited several senior-level executives outside the Atlanta area. The agency’s growth is the result of new business from brands such as Checkers & Rally’s, Coca-Cola’s Odwalla, and American gas and electric utility holding company Southern Company.
Groenewald hails from Johannesburg, South Africa. He is a CD and art director with 15 years of experience and numerous creative awards including several Cannes Lions, Clios and One Show and D&AD Pencils. Groenewald has worked on blue-chip accounts such as SABMiller, Nike, KFC, Standard Bank (South Africa’s largest bank) and Nissan.
Mendelson has served as CD and copywriter in the creative departments of several top shops including Ogilvy & Mather, mcgarrybowen, Energy BBDO and Deutsch. He has worked on brands such as Uber, Quaker Oats, Huggies, Sears, Wrigley, BP, Arby’s, General Mills and Expedia.
Director Dag Johan Haugerud’s “Dreams (Sex Love)” Wins Top Prize At The Berlin Film Festival
A Norwegian film about love, desire and self-discovery won top honors at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival on Saturday.
A jury headed by American director Todd Haynes awarded the Golden Bear trophy to "Dreams (Sex Love)" by director Dag Johan Haugerud.
Haynes called it a "meditation on love" that "cuts you to the quick with its keen intelligence."
The film focuses on a teenager played by Ella Øverbyer, infatuated with her female French teacher, and the reactions of her mother and grandmother when they discover her private writings. It's the third part of a trilogy Haugerud has completed in the past year. "Sex" premiered at Berlin in 2024, and "Love" was screened at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
The runner-up Silver Bear prize went to Brazilian director Gabriel Mascaro's dystopian drama "The Blue Trail." Argentine director Ivan Fund's rural saga "The Message" won the third-place Jury Prize.
The best director prize went to Huo Meng for "Living the Land," set in fast-changing 1990s China.
Rose Byrne was named best performer for her role as an overwhelmed mother in the Mary Bronstein-directed "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." Andrew Scott won the supporting performer trophy for playing composer Richard Rodgers in Richard Linklater's "Blue Moon."
The climax of the festival known as the Berlinale came on the eve of Germany's parliamentary elections after a campaign dominated by migration and the economy.
The national election is being held seven months early, after Chancellor Olaf Scholz's governing coalition collapsed in a dispute about how to revitalize the country's economy.
Efforts to curb migration have emerged as a central issue in the campaign — along with the question of how to handle the... Read More