Michael Derek Keeshan, who worked on such accounts as General Mills, Delta Airlines and Burger King during a successful career tenure at Saatchi & Saatchi before launching consultancy firm MagiKbox, died of a sudden heart attack at his home in Old Greenwich on January 18. He was 60.
Keeshan spent more than 35 years in advertising and marketing. He became one of the youngest presidents and COOs of Saatchi & Saatchi New York, and went on to serve as chief strategic officer for Saatchi & Saatchi Worldwide. More recently he was a private marketing consultant focused on idea-driven creative communication via his MagiKbox, which sported a roster of 20-plus clients, with projects for such notables as Vonage and business units of Johnson & Johnson.
The son of TV legend Bob Keeshan (a.k.a. “Captain Kangaroo” of CBS morning fame), Michael Derek Keeshan graduated from Dartmouth College in 1973 and then earned his MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.
Keeshan is survived by his wife of 37 years, Lynn, and two sons, Britton and Connor. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to a fund in Michael Derek Keeshan’s name at the Amos Tuck School of Business Administration at Dartmouth College.
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Hwang Dong-hyuk On Season 2 of “Squid Game,” Wrapping Production on Season 3; What’s Next?
Viewers may gasp, cringe or cry out watching characters die on Netflix's "Squid Game," but those simulated deaths have a different effect on its creator, writer and director. Instead, Hwang Dong-hyuk feels happiness seeing them go.
The show has a huge cast and Hwang says it was "really difficult" to manage everyone on set.
As characters would die, Hwang recalls saying to the actors on their last day, "'Oh no! How sad! I won't see you tomorrow,' but I was always smiling inside."
"Squid Game" season two premieres Thursday. It once again stars Lee Jung-jae and centers around a secret competition in South Korea that targets people in debt and the winner gets a big cash prize. What they don't know is that losing the game is deadly.
Hwang originally conceived of the show 15 years ago as a two-hour film but it failed to gain traction with financiers or even interested actors. He put it aside and worked on other films instead. He then had the idea to make it a TV series instead and took the project to Netflix. There, it could reach a wide audience.
"I never in my wildest dream thought it was going to be this huge," said Hwang, who spoke about the show and what comes next. Answers have been edited for clarity and length.
Q: What have you learned from "Squid Game"?
HWANG: I learned that I shouldn't give up. If you love something and if you want to create something, it might not work now, but the time might come later. Or that idea could be the source of inspiration for something else.
Q: You've already finished filming season three of "Squid Game." Have you thought about what your next project will be?
HWANG: I'm afraid to talk... Read More