Ryan Lietaer is joining the community London as the agency’s managing director. The move reunites him with executive creative director Mark Hunter after they met at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam 10 years ago.
Lietaer led W+K’s global Coca-Cola business before leaving to become general manager of BBDO Paris where in addition to leading international new business, he spearheaded the global Pepsi and HP accounts. Lietaer then left BBDO to launch his own creative agency Peoplewelike, in 2013 where his clients included LVMH, Suntory Schweppes, Diageo, L’Oreal, Le Coq Sportif and Weight Watchers.
“Ryan has a rare mix of talent and humanity that resonates strongly with our team. He’s a big impact player and someone who has been a part of great creative thinking his whole career,” said Joaquin Mollá, co-founder and co-CCO of the community.
Review: Director Ben Taylor’s “Joy”
Toward the end of Netflix's "Joy," the muffled cry of a newborn baby prompts a man and woman in a hospital to embrace out of pure bliss. They aren't the parents, but they had as much to do with the birth as the mom and dad.
This charming and winning movie charts the decade-long true story of how the world's first IVF baby was born in England in 1978 — a 5-pound, 12-ounce girl who paved the way for millions more. It's an upbeat, very English affair, mixing sober discussion of endometriosis with chocolate biscuits.
The couple embracing that day were pioneering scientist Robert Edwards and Jean Purdy, a young nurse and embryologist. Together with surgeon Patrick Steptoe, the trio succeeded with in vitro fertilization, a method of treating infertility. Edwards would go on to win the Nobel Prize.
"Joy" has been birthed at a time when science is under threat in America — even IVF — so it's downright inspiring to see plucky, smart scientists working hard to change the world. "What we're doing, it matters," says Steptoe, played with quiet economy by Bill Nighy.
"Joy" is the personal stories of the three scientists — mostly through the eyes of Purdy, a polite lab-coated warrior. "If I hear a commotion, I'm not very good at staying out of it," she says. Perfectly played by Thomasin McKenzie, Purdy is both vulnerable and strong, learning through the process to be a better human. James Norton plays Edwards with charm, self-doubt and calm spirit.
Jack Thorne's script nicely explains the massive pressure the trio faced. IVF may have become common and uncontroversial over the last decades, but back in the late '70s it was experimental and shunned. The Anglican church called it a sin, the newspapers labeled it Frankenstein-ish and other... Read More