Havas New York has brought Marcelo Ramirez and Bharat Kumar on board as executive creative directors from Johannes Leonardo, and Melissa Tifrere as head of integrated production. Most recently Tifrere served as an independent executive producer leading productions for such shops as BBDO, JOAN, Translation and 72andSunny.
Ramirez, Kumar and Tifrere mark the first hires by chief creative officer Dan Lucey, who took Havas New York’s creative helm in December 2020.
Prior to Johannes Leonardo, Ramirez and Kumar were VP, creative directors at Momentum WW. Over their combined 30 years in advertising, they’ve worked together across a wide range of categories including CPG, beer/spirits, automotive, fashion and sports, and on brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, American Express, Kraft-Heinz and others. For much of that work, including the notable “Church of Hoops” for Nike, Ramirez and Kumar have been recognized at the industry’s top award shows, including Cannes Lions–where they won two Grand Prix awards–D&AD, The One Show, Clios and The ANDYs.
Tifrere has been producing for the last 14 years. She brings a modern take on production with a keen eye for visual storytelling, and has worked at many of the leading creative shops in the industry–large and small. Tifrere has delivered work for Microsoft, BMW, AT&T, Foot Locker, PepsiCo, Reebok, Chase, Marriott, Verizon, Crayola, Sharp, Chevron, United Airlines, Goldman Sachs and USPS. As senior producer at m:united/McCann, she oversaw the entire production process from beginning to end for the Microsoft account. Prior to McCann, Tifrere was lead producer on BMW at KBS.
“My priority,” said Lucey, “is to build one of the most inclusive, collaborative creative departments in the industry with only the best talent that love what they do; it’s that simple. Marcelo and Bharat’s work consistently raises the bar in terms of how it has influenced culture and changed society for the better—all while still selling products. They understand that brand actions speak louder than ads. Melissa, who I’ve worked with before, is one of the most dynamic producers in the business. She can effortlessly tackle large scale productions and also has the agility for fast-moving quick turns.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More