Culver City, Calif.-headquartered Backyard Productions has signed Free the Work directors Kanyessa McMahon, Jasmin Kuhn, Lorenzo DeGuia and Eric Kiel for U.S. commercial representation. Kuhn is a commercial director/cinematographer with a portfolio that includes international clients such as Avon, Dove, Olay, Head+Shoulders, Secret + L’Oreal. DeGuia’s work spans such brands as Nike, the NHL, General Mills, BMW and Goldman Sachs as well as celebs and athletes like LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant. Kiel has directed for Land Rover, GMC, Tabasco, John Deere, Pep Boys, XOJet, Yeti, Dicks Sporting Goods, Fox Sports, Pfizer, Marriott, Cargill, HP, Patagonia, and Outside, among other clients. McMahon’s experience turning out 450 digital films between Nike and Adidas globally with top-tier athletes and entertainers has refined her sense of artistry, agility, and acumen. Her other clients have included YouTube, Capitol Records, iamOTHER and Estee Lauder….
FCB has promoted its top two global strategic leaders, Nigel Jones and Vita Harris. Jones moves up from day-to-day operations to take on the chairperson role for FCB, where he will partner with FCB’s global leadership team on special projects. Meanwhile Harris has been elevated from chief strategy officer to global chief strategy officer, a role previously held by Jones. Both Jones and Harris will report to FCB Worldwide CEO Carter Murray and will partner closely with him, global CCO Susan Credle and FCB’s recently appointed global head of data science & connections, Tina Allan, to lead greater alignment of FCB’s strategic capabilities with its performance and data offerings, including its rapidly expanding creative data agency, FCB/SIX. Harris has been instrumental in evolving FCB’s DE&I framework and led the introduction of the network’s Disrupting Thought Patterns workshops, while also helping lead the expansion of cultural competency and workplace inclusion initiatives to all its offices. In 2019, Harris helped develop FCB’s proprietary process to disrupt biases from seeping into the work–across strategy, planning and creative– which has been deployed globally and embraced internally by many of the agency’s clients. Harris will continue leading these initiatives while also expanding FCB’s strategic offering with data-driven performance capabilities. Committed to giving back to help advance the industry, Harris also serves on the boards of the 4As, ANA Educational Foundation and NYWICI, and on the Ad Council’s Campaign Review Committee, which appraises the direction of campaigns designed to promote social change. Among other accolades, Harris has been recognized as one of the 4As’ “100 People Who Make Advertising Great,” honored with an ADCOLOR Legend Award, and received the Missouri Honor Medal from the Missouri School of Journalism in 2018…
