Mike McKay, formerly executive creative director at BBDO San Francisco, has been named partner/chief creative officer at San Francisco agency Eleven Inc., reporting to CEO Courtney Buechert. At his new roost, McKay will lead the creative department, teaming with recently named president, Rob Kabus, and partnering with the shop’s founders/creative directors, Rob Price and Michael Borosky.
Prior to BBDO, McKay was executive creative director at Saatchi & Saatchi LA in Torrance, Calif., where he led the charge for Toyota. Earlier McKay was a creative director at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, where he had a creative hand in HP’s “The Computer Is Personal Again” campaign as well as ad fare for Haagen-Dazs, Budweiser, Netflix and Comcast. For the latter, he worked on the lauded Comcast “Rabbit” spot. McKay began his career at TBWAChiatDay, Los Angeles.
Eleven Inc. is an independently owned, full-service creative communications agency, brand studio, and innovations lab. Founded in April 1999. Eleven has a client roster which includes Apple, Virgin America, Coinstar, Crystal Geyser, Eaton Vance, NetApp, San Francisco Travel Association, Sun Valley Resort, Visa and AAA.
A Similar But Different Take On A Feature Film Debut
Similar But Different is not only the moniker for the directorial duo of Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler but also in some respects an apt description of their feature filmmaking debut, My Fault: London (Amazon MGM Studios). The movie, which premiered last week on Amazon Prime Video, has on one level some select elements similar to what we’re accustomed to in the young adult (YA) universe--which helps make it familiar, comfortable and relatable--yet at the same time My Fault: London brings a new, decidedly different dimension to YA entertainment, uniquely meshing action-adventure, mystery, music, romance and humor. The film captures the feel of the underground London culture, lending an authenticity and contemporary vibe that’s a departure from the norm when it comes to the adaptation of YA literature. This mesh of similar but different has served the film well in that there was some target audience skepticism initially over the notion of doing an English adaptation of the popular, fan-favorite Spanish-language novel “Culpa Mia,” the first of the “Culpables” trilogy. Thus it’s most gratifying for Girdwood and Fassler to see the social media response after the release of My Fault: London, with many viewers enthusiastically embracing the film. My Fault: London introduces us to Noah (portrayed by Asha Banks) who’s uprooted from her U.S. hometown, having to leave her boyfriend and friends behind to move with her mother (Eve Macklin) to London. Mom has a new rich husband (Ray Fearon) in London and their new residence is a mansion. There Noah meets Nick (Matthew Broome), her new stepbrother. They have an immediate mutual dislike for each other which blossoms into something quite different over time. Along the... Read More