Independent strategy and brand experience design company COLLINS has hired Lauren Ranke as VP of people.
For more than a decade, Ranke has been finding and nurturing talent at Wieden+Kennedy. Her work at W+K helped solidify its legacy for creative excellence, and allowed her to develop a successful model for inclusive hiring practices supporting emerging talent.
Now, Ranke looks to bring her energy and pioneering perspectives to COLLINS. Her way of encouraging and advancing talent is grounded in listening deeply and acting as a mirror to her teams. “Having ‘people’ as a key part of our leadership means COLLINS is doubling down on supporting its people. As the VP of people, I’ll be responsible for recruiting, team development and resourcing in ways that help evolve COLLINS into our next chapter,” Ranke explained.
With the rise of remote work and talent management brought on by the pandemic, agencies continue to evolve and adapt their approach to recruitment. “The industry must re-center itself around pure creativity,” Ranke added. “Creativity acts as a beacon during murky times. We need to hold both physical and cognitive space for creative work and make business decisions with these creators and the unique ways they work top of mind. The word ‘hybrid’ is broad-stroke. In an ideal world, leaders listen closely to their people and sculpt a culture around their needs. If people are happy and producing high-level, cohesive work from a variety of timezones, then there’s reason for optimism.”
Two years into its chapter as a remote-first company, COLLINS is experimenting with increased flexibility and cross-office collaboration opportunities. “I’m at COLLINS to elevate the experience of working here. We’ll find new ways to collaborate on work and grow our culture. We’ll experience inclusion and unity even when we’re thousands of miles apart. The employees at COLLINS are brilliant, sophisticated and mutually respectful. I see even more greatness ahead,” said Ranke.
COLLINS co-founder and chief creative officer Brian Collins shares her optimism, adding, “The mission for Lauren is less about recruiting people and more about taking really good care of people. Lauren was an anchor and a pillar of the culture at Wieden+Kennedy. She understands how to talk with creative people. Our mission right now at COLLINS is to house the world’s best people having the best time doing the world’s best work, and Lauren will become the ambassador for that entire company.”
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More