Ian Spalter has returned to New York-headquartered digital agency R/GA, this time as creative director in the mobile and emerging platforms group...
Ian Spalter has returned to New York-headquartered digital agency R/GA, this time as creative director in the mobile and emerging platforms group. He will work across accounts and lead projects focused on social media and digital product design to heighten brand experiences and create long-term value for consumers. Spalter was most recently VP of production management and user-experience design at Community Connect, a social-networking company that created ethnic community sites BlackPlanet.com, MiGente.com, and AsianAve.com. Prior to Community Connect, he was an associate creative director at R/GA….Olivier Gauriat has joined Madison Park Pictures, New York, as executive producer for commercials and new media content. He formerly headed production for Colgate Palmolive worldwide and earlier served as production head at Young & Rubicam, New York. Madison Park, which also has an office in L.A., is a commercial and feature film company founded by Stephen Ashkinos, Matthew Fiorello and Carsten Lorenz. Ashkinos is also the owner of New York-based Chemistry, an editorial house, and Pure, a visual effects company….Shane Diver, formerly of GSDM’s Idea City in Austin, has joined TM Advertising, Dallas, as creative director. He will handle the development of TM’s integrated interactive efforts while also working as co-creative director with Todd Connelly to help manage digital resources and projects.
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