Team One, the Publicis Groupe’s fully integrated media, digital and communications agency for premium brands, has promoted Susanna Leighton to executive director of resource management and operations–a new position for the shop–and Amy Small to executive director of talent.
“As we head into a new year and map out our priorities for 2022, our people, and the important work they do, continue to be at the top of that list,” said Julie Michael, CEO of Team One. “In the midst of this great labor shuffle happening across the marketing industry, we are aiming to buck the trends to ensure that we have the most passionate workforce in the industry by doubling-down on recruiting the brightest talent, while challenging and unleashing our current teams. To launch remarkable ideas into the world, a commitment to talent and resources is more important than ever right now, and Susanna and Amy are the perfect people to help guide our efforts here.”
Leighton, who has been with Team One for the last 14 years, previously served as the agency’s management director of resource and talent planning. In her new role, she will amplify and allocate the talent of the agency, overseeing people analytics, leading annual client scoping processes, managing key financial measures for the agency, championing employee advancement and cross-team opportunities.
With the promotion of Small, Team One will work to create a more centralized team that will provide support, resources, direction and inspiration to its employee base in all stages of career growth. In her new position, Small’s oversight will extend from recruiting into a larger framework of both human resources and talent acquisition. Since joining Team One in 2012, Small has helped the agency’s talent recruitment process through her previous roles as associate talent director and most recently as talent director.
Leighton and Small will both report to CEO Michael.
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