Havas has launched the Conran Design Group network, a global offering dedicated to brand and design, based on the longstanding talent and resources at Conran Design Group, and W, Havas’ creative branding agency in France, which will be renamed W Conran Design. With studios in London, Paris, Mumbai and New York, the network’s team of 250 strategists and creatives will use their expertise in brand strategy, brand design, experience design and communications and engagement to inspire progress for clients and empower brands to make a meaningful impact. The network launch also marks the release of Conran Design Group’s new proprietary study, Citizen Brands, an evidence-based brand and design framework that identifies which brands are achieving balanced growth. The study found that the top 20 “citizen brands”–those able to meet the needs of both individual and society–earned £8bn (some $8.6 billion) more in revenues on average yearly than their lowest-performing counterparts….
Digital product studio ustwo–with studios in London, Malmö (Sweden), New York, Lisbon and Tokyo–has hired Nayan Jain, co-founder of Heartbeat Health, the largest virtual-first cardiology provider in the U.S, in the new role of exec director, AI. Jain will spearhead AI innovation at ustwo. He will develop the company’s AI strategy and lend his specialization in healthcare to support ustwo’s ongoing work in health, financial services, technology and consumer products, working across all clients including Google, BMW Group, and BlackRock. He reports to ustwo’s group managing director Nicki Sprinz and starts in April. A multi-award-winning serial tech entrepreneur, Jain has co-founded several health tech start-ups and created market-leading products that have disrupted the way care is delivered. Heartbeat Health, which Jain co-founded in 2017, analyzes data to deliver same-day cardiac recommendations. He has run the company as founder, CTO, and most recently EVP Solutions for over six years. He also co-founded Leo Health, a concierge pediatrics company, and was the founding engineer at Rally Health, which was later acquired by United Healthcare. Jain’s awards include first place at the 2012 Health 2.0 World Developer Cup in San Francisco for creating a Twitter bot for emerging health. He was a Presidential Innovation Fellow at the White House under President Obama from 2013-14….
Review: Director-Writer Megan Park’s “My Old Ass”
They say tripping on psychedelic mushrooms triggers hallucinations, anxiety, paranoia and nervousness. In the case of Elliott, an 18-year-old restless Canadian, they prompt a visitor.
"Dude, I'm you," says the guest, as she nonchalantly burns a 'smores on a campfire next to a very high and stunned Elliott. "Well, I'm a 39-year-old you. What's up?"
What's up, indeed: Director-writer Megan Park has crafted a wistful coming-of-age tale using this comedic device for "My Old Ass" and the results are uneven even though she nails the landing.
After the older Elliott proves who she is — they share a particular scar, childhood memories and a smaller left boob — the time-travel advice begins: Be nice to your brothers and mom, and stay away from a guy named Chad.
"Can we hug?" asks the older Elliott. They do. "This is so weird," says the younger Elliott, who then makes things even weirder when she asks for a kiss — to know what it's like kissing yourself. The older Elliott soon puts her number into the younger's phone under the name "My Old Ass." Then they keep in touch, long after the effects of the 'shrooms have gone.
Part of the movie's problem that can't be ignored is that the two Elliotts look nothing alike. Maisy Stella plays the coltish young version and a wry Aubrey Plaza the older. Both turn in fine performances but the visuals are slowly grating.
The arrival of the older Elliott coincides with her younger self counting down the days until she can flee from her small town of 300 in the Muskoka Lakes region to college in Toronto, where "my life is about to start." She's sick of life on a cranberry farm.
Park's scenes and dialogue are unrushed and honest as Elliott takes her older self's advice and tries to repair... Read More