Tor Myhren has been promoted to president of Grey New York. He remains the agency’s chief creative officer and becomes the first creative ever to lead the agency’s flagship office.
“This well-deserved promotion, coming as we close the best year in Grey New York’s history, recognizes the pivotal role Tor has played in our successful revitalization and opens a new chapter in our emergence as an industry leader,” said Jim Heekin III, chairman and CEO of Grey Group.
Over the past two years, Grey New York has won 33 out of 37 pitches, over $1 billion in new business billings, from such clients as the NFL, DirecTV, Red Lobster, T.J. Maxx, Bausch & Lomb, Sargento Foods, Mayflower/United Van Lines, Allianz, America’s Natural Gas Alliance and TruTV, along with major new assignments from GSK, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Procter & Gamble, Eli Lilly and Diageo.
Under Myhren’s leadership, Grey has turned out such notable work as the ETrade Baby, a lauded, buzz-generating Super Bowl campaign; Ellen DeGeneres for CoverGirl; DirecTV’s Russian oligarch; the NFL’s first integrated campaign which went on to score a Cannes Lion; and Canon’s “Beyond the Still,” an Internet sensation.
As president and CCO of Grey NY, Myhren will continue to drive the agency’s creative vision, be responsible for all creative development and be an integral member of the new business team. Additionally, he will oversee the office’s Operating Group, with Heekin, and work even more closely with clients.
Myhren joined the agency as CCO in 2007. Earlier, he served as executive creative director of Leo Burnett Detroit for three years overseeing the General Motors business, spearheading the famous Oprah car giveaway and The Apprentice episode that sold out a year’s supply of the Pontiac Solstice in 41 minutes. He has also served as a creative director at TBWAChiatDay and was a founding member of Wongdoody, both in Los Angeles.
A winner of nearly every major creative award in the industry, Myhren’s work in digital, branded entertainment and content and experiential branding has added a new dimension to Grey’s creativity.
His first feature-length film, City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story (SHOOTonline, 6/21) aired on ESPN this year and won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Sonoma International Film Festival.
“Se7en” Turns 30, Gets A Special Restoration From David Fincher For Its Re-Release
For David Fincher, seeing “Se7en” in 4K was an experience he can only describe as harrowing. That or a high school reunion.
“There are definitely moments that you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ Or ‘Why did I let this person have that hairdo’?” Fincher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He’s OK with the film being a product of its time in most respects. But some things just could not stand in high-definition resolution.
“It was a little decrepit, to be honest,” said Fincher. “We needed to resuscitate it. There are things you can see in 4K HDR that you cannot see on a film print.”
Ever the perfectionist, he and a team got to work on a new restoration of the film for its 30th anniversary re-release. This weekend the restored “Se7en” will play on IMAX screens for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 7, the 4K UHD home video version will be available as well.
The dark crime thriller written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a pair of detectives looking for a serial killer was somewhat of a career-reviver for Fincher, whose directorial debut “Alien 3” had not gone well. “Se7en” was not a sure thing: It was made for only $34 million (and only got that when Fincher managed to persuade studio execs to give up $3 million more). But it went on to earn more than $327 million, not accounting for inflation, and continues to influence the genre.
Fincher has over the years overseen several restorations of the film (including one for laser disc) but decided this needed to be the last. It’s why he insisted on an 8K scan that they could derive the 4K from. He wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have to be repeated when screens get more... Read More