Creative partners Scott Vitrone and Ian Reichenthal are set to join Wieden+Kennedy‘s New York leadership team as executive creative directors. They will work alongside managing director Neal Arthur. The move marks a return home for Vitrone and Reichenthal who began their first tour of duty at W+K back in 1999, collaborating as a duo for the first time and working on Nike. They now fill the void at W+K N.Y. created by the recent departure of executive creative directors Kevin Proudfoot and Jerome Austria, with Proudfoot landing at Google Creative lab as a co-executive creative director.
Vitrone commented, “When we accepted the job, Dan [Wieden, agency co-founder and global executive creative director] said, ‘Welcome home.’ And that’s exactly how we feel, too. To come back to W+K, 11 years after meeting there and first working together, is really special for us.”
W+K global executive interactive creative director Iain Tait noted that meanwhile the search continues for “an interactive creative director to be a part of the evolved creative leadership of the New York office.”
Vitrone and Reichenthal come back to W+K from Young & Rubicam, New York, where they have led the office’s creative resurgence as co-chief creative officers since 2008. Prior to that, they were group creative directors at TBWAChiatDay, New York, working on the Mars’ brands, including Skittles, Combos and Snickers.
W+K N.Y. works with a growing roster of clients including ESPN, Delta Air Lines, Nike, Jordan Brand, and ABC Television Networks.
Good Times Signs Director Alice Gu For U.S. Commercial Representation
Director and cinematographer Alice Gu has joined the talent roster at production company Good Times for commercial representation in the U.S. Known for building visual worlds through thoughtful composition, highlighting human truths about shared experiences, Gu has turned out work for brands including Apple, Beats by Dre, Microsoft, ESPN, Billabong, FIFA, NFL, Tripadvisor, IKEA x WSL, West Elm, Reef, NHL, NBA, the WSL, and humanitarian aid organization Waves for Water. Her commercial work has garnered awards from shows such as the Clios, Tellys, and Anthem Awards.
Gu’s acclaimed documentary feature debut, The Donut King, won the Special Jury Prize for Excellence in Documentary Storytelling in 2020. It also earned Best Documentary awards from the Sun Valley Film Festival, Bentonville Film Festival, and Urbanworld Film Festival, and Gu was awarded Best Emerging Director at the 43rd Asian American International Film Festival. A film about the rise and fall of a Cambodian refugee turned donut tycoon, The Donut King is executive produced by four-time Oscar nominee Ridley Scott and Academy Award winner (for the feature documentary Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision) Freida Lee Mock. Gu’s follow-up feature, Really Good Rejects, also premiered in competition at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival.
“I’m ultimately so grateful to be able to do what I do for a living, because I love the work and the people so much,” said Gu. “Witnessing the gumption and experience of the Good Times team, the quality of their work and the directors’ talent, and the way they approach running a business is all very inspiring. I’m here to keep challenging myself and excited to get started.”
“Alice has a true appreciation for the... Read More