Independent ad agency RPA has brought Jason Sperling aboard as a group creative director for the Honda account. Formerly creative director at TBWAMedia Arts Lab, Sperling oversaw the iPad, iPhone and Mac groups, and led the Mac vs. PC campaign internationally. His work over the years has earned Cannes Lions and the Cannes Gold Cyber Lion (2008), the Grand Effie (2007) and several One Show Gold Pencils (2007). Previously, he worked at Colby and Partners, Santa Monica.
Additionally, RPA has promoted six creatives with Joe Baratelli and Patrick Mendelson being upped to group creative directors, Chuck Blackwell, Nathan Crow and Adam Lowrey to creative director, and Laura Hauseman to associate creative director.
Sperling and Baratelli will report to chief creative officer David Smith, and will be responsible for leading creative in all disciplines for the Honda account.
RPA’s client list includes American Honda, both the Honda and Acura brands, California Department of Public Health, La-Z-Boy, Farmers Insurance Group, Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, Luxor Hotel and Casino, and Excalibur Hotel & Casino. RPA is also the media planning and buying agency for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Lenox Financial Mortgage.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More