Two key management changes–one which already has taken hold, the other slated for January–have been announced by BBDO San Francisco. First, Jim Lesser has been promoted from executive creative director to chairman of BBDO S.F. And effective next month Mike McKay joins the agency as executive creative director. McKay comes over from Saatchi & Saatchi LA where he’s been executive creative director since 2008.
Both McKay and Lesser will partner with Brent Smart, managing director, and Nick Bartle, director of behavioral planning, to form BBDO San Francisco’s new executive management team.
At Saatchi, McKay worked on notable campaigns for clients such as Toyota and The Surfrider Foundation. Prior to that, he was a creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, from 2000 to 2008. McKay’s diverse portfolio includes work on such blue-chip brands as Apple, Netflix, Sony PlayStation, Comcast, HP, Budweiser, Haagen-Dazs and Nissan. At Goodby he had a creative hand in HP’s “The Computer Is Personal Again” campaign as well as the lauded Comcast “Rabbit” spot.
Lesser is a 19-year veteran of the advertising industry and has been with BBDO for the past 10 years, starting as an associate creative director and rising to his current role. Under his leadership, the creative department has more than tripled in size. He has personally worked on all of the agency’s accounts, even as it has added more than a dozen new clients and assignments and grown significantly in scope. Lesser began his career at the legendary Scali McCabe Sloves in New York.
Director Hans Emanuel Joins Caviar For Commercials and Music Videos
Production company Caviar has signed director Hans Emanuel for U.S. commercial and music video representation. The film and advertising director fuses his keen--and Berlinale Film Festival Award-winning--eye for cinematic storytelling with a commercial background across multiple genres including beauty, automotive, dance, and visual effects-heavy projects, to produce creative for clients like Kia, Nivea, Nissan, L’Oreal, BMW and more.
Caviar executive producer Salim El Arja noted, “Hans has a unique ability to blend stunning visuals with heart and humor, rooted in his confidence as a craftsman. This allows him to focus on drawing exceptional performances from actors--including celebrities--and crafting films that are not only visually striking but also deeply engaging and often hilariously comedic. His sensibilities align perfectly with Caviar’s vision, and we’re excited to collaborate with him on work that pushes creative boundaries.”
Emanuel added, “Caviar is a renowned name, certainly since I began my career. They have a solid reputation for quality work, and I’ve always respected them as a company. Life is about where destiny makes you flow with the people you need; thanks to a series of projects, I was introduced to Florence Jacob with Caviar Paris first, and the rest is history. I feel they can support my career growth with their comedic expertise and filmmaking prowess.”
Prior to joining Caviar, Emanuel had been repped by production house Stadium. He was born and raised in Santa Monica, Calif., to a Mexican-German mother, benefiting from a culturally diversified upbringing that carried through his education interests. Knowing he wanted to be a filmmaker from the start, he began his career in the luxury and beauty field,... Read More