Paul Stechschulte has been appointed to the role of executive creative director for Arnold Amsterdam and will report to the agency’s Boston-based managing partner and chief creative officer, Pete Favat.
Stechschulte will be responsible for creative development in the Amsterdam office, as well as the global lead on the Volvo account.
An art director by trade, Stechschulte most recently served as executive creative director at Pereira & O’Dell in San Francisco. Prior to that Paul was a group creative director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners for nearly four years where he was key in creating the international award-winning Sprint “Now Network” campaign. In addition, Stechschulte has served in various creative capacities with W+K Amsterdam, 180 Amsterdam and Crispin Porter + Bogusky in Miami. Achievements include reintroducing the MINI brand to the US for BMW. The highly successful launch did not include a single television ad, which is unheard of in the US automobile category. He has also developed award winning work for clients like Nike, Adidas, Glenfiddich, Sprint, Nextel, Geek Squad, Virgin Atlantic, Burger King, EA Games, Carlsberg, IKEA and Method Home, Beats by Dre, Google and Twitter.
Stechschulte’s work has been honored by every award show in multiple mediums, from One Show “Best of Show” to the Titanium Lion in Cannes. More importantly his work has constantly received recognition from the “judges” of pop culture – being spoofed on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and mocked in pages of the UK’s Sun. Stechschulte also serves on the board of advisors at the Creative Circus in Atlanta.
Stechschulte replaces Sean Thompson, ECD and managing partner who left the agency in September after leading the creative output that established the Arnold Amsterdam office and the Team Volvo business.
“Expanding the agency’s creative offering by hiring outstanding talent with fully integrated creative and technology expertise is one of our most important areas of focus,” said Favat. “Paul is that next generation of cross trained thinkers – a digital native with amazing brand building expertise.”
Directing and Editing “Conclave”; Insights From Edward Berger and Nick Emerson
It’s been a bruising election year but this time we’re referring to a ballot box struggle that’s more adult than the one you’d typically first think of in 2024. Rather, on the industry awards front, the election being cited is that of the Pope which takes front and center stage in director Edward Berger’s Conclave (Focus Features), based on the 2016 novel of the same title by Robert Harris. Adapted by screenwriter Peter Straugham, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as the cardinal leading the conclave that has convened to select the next Pope. While part political thriller, full of backstabbing and behind-closed-door machinations, Conclave also registers as a thoughtful adult drama dealing with themes such as a crisis of faith, weighing the greater good, and engaging in a struggle that’s as much about spirituality as the attainment of power.
Conclave is Berger’s first feature after his heralded All Quiet on the Western Front, winner of four Oscars in 2023, including for Best International Feature Film. And while Conclave would on the surface seem to be quite a departure from that World War I drama, there’s a shared bond of humanity which courses through both films.
For Berger, the heightened awareness of humanity hit home for him by virtue of where he was--in Rome, primarily at the famed Cinecittà studio--to shoot Conclave, sans any involvement from the Vatican. He recalled waking up in Rome to “soak up” the city. While having his morning espresso, Berger recollected looking out a window and seeing a priest walking about with a cigarette in his mouth, a nun having a cup of coffee, an archbishop carrying a briefcase. It dawned on Berger that these were just people going to... Read More