Azher Ahmed and Valerie Bengoa have been promoted to leadership roles for DDB in the U.S. Ahmed has been elevated to EVP, director of digital while Bengoa has been promoted to EVP, director of finance. Both will report to Paul Gunning, president and COO of DDB U.S. In these new roles, Ahmed and Bengoa will lead their respective discipline and be responsible for the team in DDB‘s three U.S. offices, Tribal New York and Rodgers Townsend. With more than 20 years of experience spearheading digital marketing, Ahmed has designed and implemented creative ideas and tech-driven campaigns for brands, including Capital One’s “Road to the Final Four” and McDonald’s “Lovin’ the Super Bowl.” In his new role, Ahmed will focus on capability connectivity across DDB U.S. offices and clients such as State Farm, Miller Lite and Symantec. He is also charged with advancing the agency network’s capabilities to ensure DDB’s talent can create for any digitally-rooted idea and execute it in today’s connected world. Bengoa has been part of the DDB team since 1998 and has worked in the Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco offices at different points in her career….
Nico Buris is joining production service company Rabagast as managing director/EP for its offices in South America which include Chile, Uruguay and Argentina. For the last 20 years he has been producing in his native Argentina as well as in Chile and Uruguay. Previously a producer at Landia, a top Spanish speaking production house, Buris has worked closely with directors on large-scale projects in the U.S., Europe and South America. Among them are collaborations with American ad agencies on projects for Coca Cola, SC Johnson and P&G. He was also a line producer at Tronco, a commercial and creative content production company where in collaboration with the U.S. production company 1st Avenue Machine his credits include Benjamin Moore for The Martin Agency, and Motorola for Droga5….
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