nominated editor Peter Wiedensmith’s recent accomplishments, let’s first discuss the origins of his last name. You’ve got to be curious about it. After all, Wiedensmith edits for Joint, the in-house editorial arm of Wieden +Kennedy (W+K), Portland, Ore. That’s Wieden+Kennedy. See the connection?
So, what’s the deal with his surname? Was Wiedensmith born with it? Did he change his last name to Wiedensmith to reflect his undying devotion to the company? Or is there perhaps a more plausible explanation?
There is: "I’m actually married to [W+K president/creative director] Dan Wieden’s oldest daughter, [Tami]," he explains. "We began dating in college. Her last name was Wieden. I was Smith, and then we got married and became Wiedensmith."
Turns out neither of them wanted to give up their respective last names, and they didn’t want to have separate last names. "It was weird because it actually worked. There aren’t many last names you can stick together and make what looks like a real last name," says Wiedensmith. "I do still get teased for it."
Hey, you’ve got to give the guy credit. It figures that an editor who works on spots that get nominated for Emmy Awards would find a creative way to cut two last names together.
Wiedensmith has been in the spotlight recently for working on the Emmy-nominated Nike spot "Driving Range," directed by Lasse Hallstrom, out of Propaganda Independent, for W+K. (Hallstrom is now with bicoastal/international @radical.media.) "Driving Range" was a replacement for a replacement at the Emmy Awards, having assumed the place of Ameritrade’s "Let’s Light This Candle," out of OgilvyOne, New York, which was disqualified because it broke before the Emmy’s eligibility date. (SHOOT, 9/1/00.) "Let’s Light This Candle" had replaced Monster.com’s "When I Grow Up," out of Mullen, Wenham, Mass., because it had also premiered prior to the eligibility date. "Driving Range" lost out to another W+K Nike ad, "The Morning After," directed by Spike Jonze of bicoastal Satellite, for the Emmy.
