Former Dark Light Dir. Returns To Agency Side.
By KATHY DeSALVO
Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Chicago, has hired Mark Figliulo as its chief creative officer. Since early ’98, the Chicago-based Figliulo had been represented as a commercial director by Dark Light Pictures, West Hollywood (SHOOT, 2/13/98, p. 8).
Before he shifted to directing, Figliulo was an ad agency creative. He initially spent three years at the Tokyo office of Leo Burnett Co., working on such business as Lark Cigarettes and Whitehorse Scotch. He then moved to Burnett’s Chicago headquarters for a five-year tenure, serving as a group creative director on the Unocal, Rockport Shoes, Dewars Scotch, True Value and Reebok accounts, among others. He began directing select agency projects during his last four years at Burnett.
Figliulo’s Dark Light tenure was marked by sporadic directing assignments. He said he helmed "a few good spots," perhaps most notably "Timmy" for Big 10 Universities/NCAA out of Burnett. Other directing credits included the spots "Baby" and "Checklist" for Glad, also via Burnett, and several client-direct promos for the FOX network.
Even after throwing his hat into the directing ring, Figliulo explained, he never lost his love of the creative process, which ultimately prompted him to now take the Y&R head creative position. "It was less [a matter of ] problems at Dark Light," said Figliulo, "and more what I was happy doing." He said he began working as a freelance creative in the Chicago market over the past few months primarily because he wanted to be home with his wife and their newborn son.
"I forgot how much I enjoyed the concept end of it," related Figliulo, who said he wasn’t actively looking for an agency job when Y&R/Chicago CEO Howard Breen contacted him a few weeks ago. "Slowly but surely, I started getting back into the more conceptual agency work, and I enjoyed it. The other thing was that I was doing better creative as a creative than I was as a director. Because I was just starting out as a director, I was getting some mediocre-to-bad boards, for the most part."
Figliulo said he intends to continue directing his own work at Y&R when appropriate. Among Y&R/Chicago’s accounts are Sears, Norwegian Cruise Lines, H&R Block, Barilla Pasta and Rayovac batteries.
Figliulo, who officially starts at Y&R on Nov. 15, said he intends to expand the Chicago office as quickly as possible, adding that he’s looking forward to creating his own culture at the shop. "It just seemed like they’re really trying to make things happen there," he said of Y&R. "When there’s a new management shift, things get exciting. It seemed like the right time for me to jump back in, and the right job."
Jury Presidents Named For The One Show 2025
The One Club for Creativity has announced the global creatives from around the world who will serve as jury presidents for The One Show 2025.
These creatives will lead judging for each discipline, and have a vote on the work.
Confirmed One Show 2025 Jury presidents, by discipline, are as follows:
--Brand-Side/In-House: David Lee, CCO, Squarespace, New York
--Branded Entertainment: Malcolm Poynton, Global CCO, Cheil Worldwide, London
--Creative Use of Data, Creative Use of Technology: Nancy Crimi-Lamanna, CCO, FCB Canada, Toronto
--Cultural Driver: Bianca Guimaraes, partner, ECD, Mischief, New York
--Design: Liza Enebeis, creative director, partner, Studio Dumbar/DEPTยฎ, Rotterdam
--Direct Marketing: Vicki Maguire, CCO, Havas London
--Film & Video: Javier Campopiano, global CCO, McCann Worldgroup & McCann Global, Madrid
--Gaming: Taj Reid, global chief experience officer, US CCO, Edelman, New York
--Integrated, Experiential & Immersive: Chris Beresford-Hill, worldwide CCO, BBDO New York
--Fusion Pencil: Walter T. Geer III, CCO, Innovation North America, VML, New York
--Green Pencil: Barbara Humphries, ECD, The Monkeys, Sydney
--Health & Wellness, Pharma: Wendy Lund, chief client officer, WPP, New York
--IP & Product Design: Ronald Ng, global CCO, MRM, New York
--Moving Image Craft & Production: Irene Kugelmann, chief creative officer, DDB Group of Companies Germany, Berlin
--Music & Sound Craft: Joel Simon, CCO, JSM Music, New York
--Out of Home, Print & Promotional: Kainaz Karmakar, CCO, Ogilvy India, Mumbai
--Public Relations: Patricia รvila, regional director for Latin America, รgora, Sรฃo Paulo
--Radio... Read More