Jason Elm has been appointed chief creative officer of DDB California. In this role, Elm will lead the California creative department and will be responsible for all its output. He reports to Mike Harris, CEO of DDB California.
Elm fills the CCO role previously held by Lisa Bennett who became executive VP, creative at DDB North American in January.
Prior to joining DDB, Elm served as executive VP, group creative director at Deutsch LA, where he oversaw all Diamond Foods brands, such as Pop Secret, Emerald Nuts and Kettle Brand Chips. Most recently, he helmed the Sony PlayStation account for five years.
A Los Angeles native, Elm joined Deutsch in 1998 as a copywriter and was a key part of the agency’s culture and growth for 15 years, penning ads for clients including Expedia.com, Coors Light, DirecTV, California Milk Advisory Board and Mitsubishi. Elm began his career with stints at Southern California agencies including Bozell and Lois/Colby.
Elm is well known for having personally created the Twitter feed for PlayStation’s @TheKevinButler, which became the most-followed brand character on Twitter. His California Cheese “Happy Cows–Sprinkler” spot was voted “Best of SuperBowl XXXVIII” by CBS, and the PlayStation “To Michael” film was awarded in Cannes, The One Show, D&AD and Clios.
Netflix Series “The Leopard” Spots Classic Italian Novel, Remakes It As A Sumptuous Period Drama
"The Leopard," a new Netflix series, takes the classic Italian novel by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa and transforms it into a sumptuous period piece showing the struggles of the aristocracy in 19th-century Sicily, during tumultuous social upheavals as their way of life is crumbling around them.
Tom Shankland, who directs four of the eight episodes, had the courage to attempt his own version of what is one of the most popular films in Italian history. The 1963 movie "The Leopard," directed by Luchino Visconti, starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale, won the Palme d'Or in Cannes.
One Italian critic said that it would be the equivalent of a director in the United States taking "Gone with the Wind" and turning it into a series, but Shankland wasn't the least bit intimidated.
He said that he didn't think of anything other than his own passion for the project, which grew out of his love of the book. His father was a university professor of Italian literature in England, and as a child, he loved the book and traveling to Sicily with his family.
The book tells the story of Don Fabrizio Corbera, the Prince of Salina, a tall, handsome, wealthy aristocrat who owns palaces and land across Sicily.
His comfortable world is shaken with the invasion of Sicily in 1860 by Giuseppe Garibaldi, who was to overthrow the Bourbon king in Naples and bring about the Unification of Italy.
The prince's family leads an opulent life in their magnificent palaces with servants and peasants kowtowing to their every need. They spend their time at opulent banquets and lavish balls with their fellow aristocrats.
Shankland has made the series into a visual feast with tables heaped with food, elaborate gardens and sensuous costumes.... Read More