Dana Fahey Valdes has joined Grey as executive director, creative talent. She will report to John Patroulis, Grey’s worldwide chief creative officer and be based at Grey’s New York flagship office.
In her new post, Valdes will lead Grey’s growing creative management team which includes creative recruitment, resource management and creative culture initiatives.
Patroulis said, “Dana brings a tremendous track record of success in building creative organizations. She will help us continue to attract the best talent in the world, give the great talent we possess more ownership over their ideas and create the environment and expectation for everyone to do the best work of their careers.”
Valdes brings more than 15 years of experience recruiting top talent, advocating for creative and helping to balance business demands with creative goals. Her experience spans both world-class networks and creative hot-shop start-ups. She has worked at CP+B, TBWAChiatDay, Barton F. Graf, Saatchi & Saatchi and F&P. In 2013, she co-founded and ran her own independent creative recruiting company in New York, building relationships and placing international talent.
Director Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” Wins People’s Choice Award At The Toronto Film Fest
The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award went to “The Life of Chuck,” handing director-writer Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation one of the most-watched prizes of the fall film festival circuit.
The award for “The Life of Chuck” was announced Sunday (9/15) as North American’s largest film festival drew to a close. “The Life of Chuck,” based on King’s 2020 novella of the same name, stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz, an ordinary man living through apocalyptic cataclysms. Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Jacob Tremblay co-star.
TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is regarded as a reliable Oscar harbinger. Since 2012, every winner of the festival’s top prize has gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Last year, Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” won, and went on to be a major awards contender.
But “The Life of Chuck” could test that track record. The film is up for sale and doesn’t yet have distribution. It could be acquired and quickly readied for release this fall, or it might end up a 2025 release. “The Life of Chuck” drew mixed — though mostly positive reviews — out of Toronto, though audiences were clearly charmed by the uplifting drama.
Runners-up for the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by festival attendees, were both films that first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The first was Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.” The second runner-up was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes.
The audience award for top documentary went to Mike Downie’s “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.” In the festival’s Midnight Madness section, the prize went to... Read More