R/GA New York has brought industry veteran Steve Whittier on board as executive creative director. Whittier, who will work on the Nike account, has 20 years of experience in both traditional and nontraditional advertising. He has deep experience across a number of categories including action sports, outdoor, youth marketing, automotive, and entertainment. He will report to R/GA’s Nick Law, executive VP, chief creative officer, North America.
Whittier most recently acted as the integrated creative director on the Land Rover USA business at Young & Rubicam, where his work encompassed creative executions across multiple channels including traditional, digital, and direct-to-consumer. In this position, Whittier led a multi-agency collaborative effort to develop numerous campaigns for the brand, including work on several global Land Rover launches alongside Y&R London.
Before joining Y&R, Whittier worked at several other agencies including Factory Design Labs as VP/creative director where he helped grow the agency from a 13-person design shop to a 100-plus-person full-service agency with a national client roster that included Oakley, The North Face, Revo, Brine Lacrosse, and Audi. Prior to Factory Design Labs, he served as creative director at Leo Burnett Kiev for clients such as Fanta, P&G EU, and Coca-Cola.
Whittier has won several Cannes Lions for his work on Land Rover, GE, and Airwalk as well as recognition from The London International Awards, Communication Arts, The Webbys, D&AD and The One Show.
Additionally, Whittier is an advisory board member of Alexandra Cousteau’s Blue Legacy Foundation and a marketing board member of Healing Waters International, a nonprofit organization providing safe water solutions to impoverished communities around the world.
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