EP/Managing Partner
Durable Goods
What was the biggest challenge posed to you by a recent project? Or share insights to a recent project you deem notable. Briefly describe the project, why it was particularly noteworthy or what valuable lesson(s) you learned from it.
We were very recently tasked to execute a very ambitious project for Shea Moisture for Men with Dominique DeLeon, an African American creative director and director with a pedigree from Google, who really stepped up to the plate. His experience brought so much incredible insight to the table. While the scope of the creative was very ambitious, there were some budgetary limitations we had to consider. Dom understood the ask and worked closely with the client to ensure that we pulled inspirational and authentic stories out of real people. He did an amazing job at maximizing scenes while bringing these underrepresented people to life.
Does your company have plans for any major diversification and/or expansion/investment in technology and talent this year and if so, what? How will this investment or diversification add value to what you can offer to clients? If instead you have already realized any actual expansion, made such an investment and/or diversified significantly recently, share those developments with us along with what they mean to your staff and clients.
AI is rapidly changing the advertising landscape due to its host of benefits and ability to get smarter over time; so, like many companies, we are investing heavily into learning AI and exploring the best ways to leverage it in advertising. The goal is to find opportunities to personalize, leading to better customer experiences and audience segmentation before ads are even served. We are hoping that AI can create a more interactive experience by giving agencies and clients performance optimization that will also lead to budget optimization and targeting. Being at the forefront of this is quite exciting for us. However, the interim road of development is challenging.
Tell us about significant creative, filmmaking or tech talent you’ve recently brought into your company–including from those groups underrepresented in the industry–and what drew you to him, her and/or them. If this was talent new to the industry, how did you go about “discovering” him, her and/or them?
Christina Xing is a young Chinese LGBTQ director who brings a whole different approach to filmmaking. Her use of 35mm film and her stylized aesthetic brought two very different films for Visa and Kinder Bueno to life recently. Christina is really a shining star at 25, grounded and experienced beyond her age. There is a bit of a chicken-and-egg scenario happening in advertising. In order to usher in a new generation of talent, agencies and clients must empower these filmmakers and give them opportunities to create a larger body of work that ultimately gives them an equal seat at the table. We also believe it’s important to mentor below-the-line crew and give them the chance to grow in a production environment. We can really see a shift already happening here and hope we can see the same in the above-the-line world in the very near future.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More