Director Elizabeth Orne has signed with bicoastal The Famous Group for spots and branded content. Her reel includes spots for French’s, IROBOT and Coors. Back in 2011, Orne’s short film titled Crazy Glue landed her a slot in SHOOT’s New Directors Showcase. Orne has already wrapped her first project at The Famous Group, a spot for Hasbro and agency Townhouse….
Havas Group has acquired UK-based life communications agency SO What Global, which will join the Havas Health & You business unit as Havas SO. The brand’s two complementary agencies, SO Healthy and SO Active, will bring synergies of philosophy and service offerings to the Havas Group agency roster, via its full spectrum of science- and consumer-focused communication skill-sets for global clients. As part of this deal, the existing Havas Group agency Health for Brands London (H4B London) will become part of the Havas SO Group, with the expanded group offering the full range of services from PR to creative and digital. With a focus on “life communications”–namely health, well-being and lifestyle-SO What Global currently works with many of the top pharma, consumer lifestyle and wellness companies as well as global associations. Along with its client roster, the agency will bring and further evolve its proprietary mapping and development framework, called RelationSHIFT, which helps define where clients are in terms of reputation and then creates a tailored pathway that moves them closer to the relationships that matter with key stakeholders. Following the acquisition, the management team of Scott A. Clark and Oliver Parsons–SO’s co-founders and managing partners–will continue to head up the team of health, well-being and lifestyle comms professionals. Clark and Parsons will report to Donna Murphy, CEO of Havas Health & You, and will work closely with European senior leaders for day-to-day operations.
Boutique production house and mixed media specialist Sedona Productions has opened its doors in Sydney, Australia. Sedona is the brainchild of former Exit Films managing director and award winning producer Kim Wildenburg. With a career spanning over 19 years working in Australia and the United States, Wildenburg has experience delivering across live action, design, post production and emerging technologies. Her most recently produced project, an interactive experiential campaign for Google, titled “Through the Dark,” has won 28 awards to date, including seven Cannes Lions, D&AD, AWARD, ADC/One Club, FWA and Webby awards. Sedona’s roster includes award winning commercial and interactive studio Nexus Studios, Sydney based directors, illustrators and animators of finely crafted stories Mighty Nice, Gentleman Scholar, who fuses story, style, technology and design. Also on board is Assembly, an innovative team of directors, artists, engineers, designers and animators based out of Auckland, NZ; Mill+, an integrated team of directors and designers, Melbourne-based design and animation directors XYZ Studios; Quad Productions' sister design, animation and direction company WIZZ; automotive specialists and directing collective Carnage; indie visual director Paul Mitchell; and Blacklist directors Cisma and Terry Hall….
Oscar and Emmy-Winning Composer Kris Bowers Joins Barking Owl For Advertising, Branded Content
Music, audio post and sonic branding house Barking Owl has taken on exclusive representation of Oscar and Emmy-winning composer Kris Bowers for advertising and branded content.
Bowersโ recent film scores include The Wild Robot and Bob Marley: One Love, alongside acclaimed past works such as The Color Purple (2023), King Richard and Green Book. His contributions to television are equally impressive, with scores for hit series like Bridgerton, When They See Us, Dear White People, and his Daytime Emmy Award-winning score for The Snowy Day.
In addition to his work as a composer, Bowers is a visionary director. He recently took home the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject for his directorial work on The Last Repair Shop. The emotionally touching short film spotlights four of the people responsible for repairing the musical instruments used by students in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Last Repair Shop reflects the positive influence that musical instruments have on the youngsters who play them, and the adults in the LAUSD free repair service who keep them working and in tune.
Barking Owl CEO Kirkland Alexander Lynch said of Bowers, โHis artistry, diversity of style and depth of storytelling bring an unparalleled edge to the work we create for global brands. His presence on our roster reflects our continued commitment to pushing the boundaries of sound and music in advertising.โ
Johanna Cranitch, creative director, Barking Owl, added, โKris first caught my attention when he released his record โHeroes + Misfitsโ where he fused together his jazz sensibility with a deeply ingrained aptitude for melody, so beautifully.... Read More