By Kristin Wilcha
NEW FACES
Bryan Black has joined Deutsch, New York, as senior VP/group creative director. Additionally, David Rosen and Scott Bassen have been promoted to senior VPs/group creative directors from VPs/associate creative directors.
Andrew Keller has been promoted to creative director from associate creative director at Crispin Porter+Bogusky, Miami.
Joni Madison has been promoted to partner/chief operating officer at McKinney+Silver, Raleigh, N.C.
ACCOUNT MOVEMENT
Yahoo! has moved its account to Soho Square, New York, from Black Rocket Euro RSCG, San Francisco.
Drug maker Pfizer has selected three agencies for a trio of medications. Bextra ads will be handled by McCann-Erickson, New York; Zoloft will be handled by the Kaplan Thaler Group, New York; and Berlin Cameron/Red Cell, New York, will oversee creative for Zyrtec.
Saatchi & Saatchi, New York, will retain ad duties on the $90 million Greater New York Toyota Dealers Association account.
BBDO Chicago will handle the national ad account for the YMCA.
Advertising for Atlantic Coast Airlines will be handled by gkv communications, Baltimore.
WestWayne, Dallas, has won creative duties for the Taco Cabana chain of restaurants.
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More