VMLY&R has expanded its experience design (XD) division with two executive appointments. Kaleeta McDade joins as chief experience design officer, North America, to jointly lead the agency’s growing experience design team alongside Eric Looney who has been a leader on the XD team for the last five years. In her new role, McDade will bridge creative storytelling, technology, design and user experience for clients across VMLY&R’s client portfolio. The agency’s XD team currently supports major clients, including Ford, Colgate, Walgreens, Sherwin-Williams, and T-Mobile. Both McDade and Looney will report to Debbi Vandeven, VMLY&R’s global chief creative officer.
McDade joins VMLY&R from Ogilvy, where she served as global executive creative director and was responsible for defining, shaping, and driving the creative vision and strategy across the agency’s experience offerings. McDade also spent six years at Deloitte Digital, where she served as group experience director across studios in the U.S. and India. Over the past 17 years, she has also held senior design and creative roles with leading digital companies like Google Brand Studio, Apple, Sapient Shanghai, and Sapient Atlanta.
In addition to McDade and Looney’s executive appointments, VMLY&R has promoted Craig Elimeliah to chief experience design officer, T-Mobile. Elimeliah is an award-winning creative leader who has been a catalyst for creativity and innovation at VMLY&R for seven years, working with companies such as Google, New Balance, Amazon, Dell and more. He brings over two decades of specialized expertise in designing and architecting solutions for brands and delivering new products and services. Elimeliah is based in New York and will report to McDade.
The appointments follow on the heels of Walt Geer’s recent appointment to chief experience design officer at VMLY&R Health, rounding out a XD leadership team across the global agency.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More