Stefania Siani has been appointed CEO and chief creative officer of Serviceplan Italy. She also takes on a board position at Serviceplan Group, Europe’s indie agency group, fortifying the leadership team and working closely with CEO Giovanni Ghelardi.
Siani moves to Serviceplan Italy from DLV BBDO and Proximity BBDO, where she held the position of VP and chief creative officer.
Siani began her career in DDB as a copywriter before moving to Ata De Martini & C., Red Cell and then 1861 United (Wpp Italy Group) where she was appointed creative director. During her career she has worked with an impressive roll call of iconic brands including; Mercedes-Benz, Procter & Gamble, illy, Tempo, Rolling Stone, Luxottica, illimity bank, Gruppo Fater, E-ON and Porsche Italia.
Siani served on the 2018 Cannes Lions film jury and has been appointed president of the 2020 ADCI Awards, the most prestigious award for Italian creativity. She is ADCI VP (Cannes representative in Italy) and founder of the Equal Prize for gender equality and inclusion in advertising. Siani has been recognized at such awards shows as the Italian and European Art Director’s Club, the D&AD, the New York Festival, Epica, Clio Awards and Cannes Lions.
Of this latest chapter in her career, Siani commented, “My decision to accept this exciting challenge stems from a deep awareness of the crisis and the contraction of the traditional agency model. I share the vision of Serviceplan Group, number one agency group in Europe, of hybridizing strategic creativity, media and technological specialization in a single model: that of the ‘House Of Communication.’ At the headquarters of Serviceplan Italia in Via Solferino 40, in the intellectual and pulsating center of the city of Milan, we bring together communicators, media strategists and digital transformation experts under one roof. To meet the two real needs of the market: the need for specialized skills and a single matrix for coordinating communication activities. This is what I consider ‘the future’: the real answer to evolve the role of agencies from service providers to value drivers. My experience will be at the service of creating a powerful Italian legacy.”
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