CP+B has promoted Kevin Jones to chief creative officer in L.A. In this new role, Jones will lead the creative department of CP+B’s Los Angeles office and the work created for PayPal, video game franchise NBA 2K and Charles Schwab. Jones will also head up creative on global work for Infiniti, which is in the process of moving from CP+B Boulder to capitalize on L.A.’s rich automotive culture and be in closer proximity to the Infiniti Design Center teams.
Since 2014, Jones has acted as executive creative director at CP+B LA, leading creative development on the noted “Be the Story” campaign starring Spike Lee for video game NBA 2K16, which broke franchise sales records and doubled digital revenue over the prior year. Jones also led the winning pitch for the global PayPal account, which resulted in high-profile brand firsts. PayPal’s first UK Christmas spot, titled “No Presents”, was ranked the number three most effective UK Christmas ad by Millward Brown. PayPal’s first ever Super Bowl spot, titled “New Money,” was also well received.
Jones’ promotion comes after Robin Fitzgerald was upped last week to exec creative director at CP+B LA.
Jones joined CP+B from Wieden+Kennedy where he spent most of the past 20 years working on numerous high-profile campaigns that have become a part of pop culture. His work has won him back-to-back Emmys for the Chrysler Eminem Super Bowl spot and the noted P&G Olympic spot “Best Job,” the most talked about campaign during the London Summer Olympics. He was also nominated for an Emmy for the powerful Clint Eastwood Chrysler spot. Jones has created award-winning campaigns for Dodge, Coke, Nike, Target and T-Mobile. His work has been honored with eight Gold Lions at Cannes, Best of Show at the AICP, One Show, and Clios, The Grand Effie and a Webby People’s Voice award, among others. His work is in the Library of Congress as well as The Museum of Modern Art’s collection. An accomplished musician and writer, Jones has received fellowships from the MacDowell Colony and the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, where he is a graduate of their MFA program. He was a finalist for the Keene Prize in literature and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More