Marketing communications agency Lowe Campbell Ewald has added Jim Houck as executive creative director. In this new role based in San Antonio, Houck will lead all creative efforts on behalf of USAA and will report directly to Mark Simon, chief creative officer.
Prior to joining Lowe Campbell Ewald, Houck was a freelancer at various advertising agencies including The Martin Agency, Deutsch LA, Saatchi & Saatchi NY and Draftfcb. Before his freelancer roles, Houck served at Crispin Porter+Bogusky and as global director of branded entertainment at SapientNitro. He has worked on multi-platform campaigns for Burger King, Coke, Walmart, Sony, Volkswagen, American Express, Pizza Hut, Dell, Toyota, Taco Bell and Accenture, among others. His work has been recognized by the Cannes Lions, One Show, CLIOs and International ANDYs.
Houck is the author of several novels including “Ketchup Soup” and feature films including the drama The Writer. He graduated from Kansas State University with a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More