VML has made three promotions and a new hire in its creative department.
Kelly Durham has been promoted to executive producer of integrated production. Since joining VML in 2015, Durham has played an instrumental role in delivering some of the agency’s best-produced work including for Gatorade. Her role will focus on managing and elevating the broadcast work done by VML Chicago. Durham will report to Tyler Smith, head of production.
In addition to Durham’s promotion, Susan Hatten has been hired as a senior producer for the integrated production team, working on Pepsico. Hatten will be producing projects for several brands including Gatorade and Tropicana. She started her career in Kansas City, working for Valentine-Radford before moving to Chicago and later joining Ogilvy & Mather where worked as a senior content producer for the past 11 years. She has been a producer on nearly every national and global account at Ogilvy – producing shoots in more than 22 countries. Susan will relocate back to Kansas City to be based out of VML’s global headquarters. She brings a vast array of production and art buying knowledge to her new role. Hatten will also report to Smith.
Derek Clark has been promoted to executive creative director leading Tennessee Department of Tourist Development work and the recently won Electrolux / Frigidaire business. Clark joined VML in 2015 as group creative director of the Gatorade team. Clark has worked on multiple award-winning advertising campaigns including one of the original branded Snapchats with the G Dunk filter takeover during the Super Bowl. The work received five Cannes Lions, including gold, silver, and bronze, across a variety of categories. Clark will report to Debbi Vandeven, global chief creative officer. Prior to VML, Clark worked with several agencies including Leo Burnett, mcGarrybowen, and Cavalry.
Rob Romine has been promoted to group director, experience design. He joined VML in 2008 and has lead the experience design for clients such as FordPass, Common Wealth Bank of Australia, Korean Airlines and Electrolux focusing on eCom, user-centered design for mobile, web and retail experiences. Romine reports to Chris Wallen, managing director, experience design.
After 20 Years of Acting, Megan Park Finds Her Groove In The Director’s Chair On “My Old Ass”
Megan Park feels a little bad that her movie is making so many people cry. It's not just a single tear either — more like full body sobs.
She didn't set out to make a tearjerker with "My Old Ass," now streaming on Prime Video. She just wanted to tell a story about a young woman in conversation with her older self. The film is quite funny (the dialogue between 18-year-old and almost 40-year-old Elliott happens because of a mushroom trip that includes a Justin Bieber cover), but it packs an emotional punch, too.
Writing, Park said, is often her way of working through things. When she put pen to paper on "My Old Ass," she was a new mom and staying in her childhood bedroom during the pandemic. One night, she and her whole nuclear family slept under the same roof. She didn't know it then, but it would be the last time, and she started wondering what it would be like to have known that.
In the film, older Elliott ( Aubrey Plaza ) advises younger Elliott ( Maisy Stella ) to not be so eager to leave her provincial town, her younger brothers and her parents and to slow down and appreciate things as they are. She also tells her to stay away from a guy named Chad who she meets the next day and discovers that, unfortunately, he's quite cute.
At 38, Park is just getting started as a filmmaker. Her first, "The Fallout," in which Jenna Ortega plays a teen in the aftermath of a school shooting, had one of those pandemic releases that didn't even feel real. But it did get the attention of Margot Robbie 's production company LuckyChap Entertainment, who reached out to Park to see what other ideas she had brewing.
"They were very instrumental in encouraging me to go with it," Park said. "They're just really even-keeled, good people, which makes... Read More