Last month’s 50th Anniversary Issue of SHOOT included assorted reflections on mentorship. Consider this column an addendum to that coverage, the bookends being the induction back in March of Mike Hughes into The One Club’s Creative Hall of Fame, and last month’s hiring of Fabio Costa, formerly a creative director at Ogilvy Paris, to serve as a senior VP/creative director at The Martin Agency in Richmond, Va.
Costa said he was drawn to his new roost in part by the chance to work with and learn from Hughes, president of The Martin Agency, and chief creative officer John Norman.
Costa is joining a long line of those who look to learn a lot from Hughes, which brings us to a college campus where a telling event took place between those two figurative bookends.
On Oct. 27, the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) Brandcenter building was formally named Mike Hughes Hall. Hughes has served as chairman of the VCU Brandcenter board since the inception of the school in 1995. He was instrumental in helping the school’s founder, Diane Cook-Tench, create and build a graduate program that’s now a leading advertising school.
“Without his support, leadership and dedication, the school would simply not exist,” said Rick Boyko, director of the Brandcenter. “…It is only fitting to have the building that houses the Brandcenter named in his honor.”
Dr. Michael Rau, VCU president, described Hughes as being “one of the industry’s most progressive change agents–His leadership as chairman of the VCU Brandcenter board resulted in a premier graduate advertising program. VCU is grateful for Mike’s commitment and thought leadership throughout the years, and is proud to name the building for him.”
Hughes has touched numerous lives through the Brandcenter and his daily work at The Martin Agency where he’s spent most of his career, starting there as a copywriter in 1978 and moving up the ranks.
Just prior to becoming the 47th person inducted into the Creative Hall of Fame, Hughes told SHOOT about his mentors. He first cited his predecessor at The Martin Agency, “the man who hired me–Harry Jacobs who is already in the Hall of Fame. He stands out but I’ve had so many heroes. In the 1970s, I’d look to Ed McCabe and David Abbott. In the ’80s, Lee Clow and Tom McElligott. I always kept tabs on what those people were doing. They were pure advertising people. I studied them. I could recite McCabe’s ads. I’d look through awards journals for their work.
“Later on,” continued Hughes, “I had the privilege of getting to know some of these people. From afar in Richmond, I had thought they were perfect. Now that I know them, I realize that they are just crazy. But it’s the kind of crazy that creates great work.”
As for an area in today’s evolving media landscape where a mentor could make a mark, Hughes related, “One thing I hope we can lead the way back to is craftsmanship. There isn’t as much craftsmanship in the business now as there was years ago. Things like design online, marketing in the digital space and social media haven’t been quite figured out yet. Those things haven’t had their Bernbach. This means there are opportunities for people to rise up and show how those things should be done.”
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