Creative agency Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners (RTO+P) has promoted longtime executive creative director and partner Steve O’Connell to co-chief creative officer. He will share the role with the agency’s founder Steve Red, who has served as CCO and president for more than two decades. This appointment comes alongside another senior promotion; RTO+P veteran Todd Taylor will fill O’Connell’s role as the new ECD, a move up from his SVP, group creative director post. Together, the trio will lead the agency’s growing creative team, continuing to spearhead innovative, progressive campaigns for clients including Dietz & Watson, Keurig, Dr. Pepper, Reyka Vodka and Craftsman.
VP, creative director Ari Garber and creative director Chris Plehal have also been promoted to group creative directors on the heels of Taylor’s elevation. These senior promotions come at a time of noteworthy growth for the agency. RTO+P has brought on several new clients and projects this past year, including Sierra, A TJX Company, Nic + Zoe, Tullamore Dew, and Chipotle. As a result, the agency has needed to build out teams across disciplines through several new hires.
Over the last few weeks, RTO+P has recruited talent from top shops to help round out its production, creative, and account management teams, including:
–Guy Helson as executive integrated producer. He joins RTO+P from R/GA, where he produced video content for brands including Nike, Mercedes, and Pepsi.
–Colin Smith as a sr. copywriter from London based agency, DARE.
–Christine Benner as experience producer from creative agency 160over90.
–And Christina Castaldo, as the agency’s newest group account director. In her previous role at Anomaly, she led accounts including Budweiser, NBC Sports, and Universal Kids.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More