Yan Elliott is joining CHI&Partners as joint executive creative director, alongside Micky Tudor.
Elliott leaves Lucky Generals where he was creative partner, and responsible for notable recent campaigns including the Radiocentre work talking directly to the UK’s leading marketers, and Popchips campaign “Be a Bit Good.”
Previous to Lucky Generals, Elliott’s career spans two years at HHCL, nine years at Mother and five years as joint ECD at WCRS before leaving to start up his own agency, Fabula, in 2012.
Throughout his career, Elliott has created and overseen work for brands including Coca Cola, Dr Pepper, Super Noodles, Weetabix, Selfridges, Brylcreem, Sky, Orange, 3Mobile, 118 118, The Observer, Kiss FM and TfL.
At WCRS, he was responsible for famous work including Sky’s £100m brand campaign “Believe in Better.” He also oversaw campaigns including Brylcreem’s “Effortless,” Weetabix’s “Steeplechase,” TfL’s “Cycle Safety” and 3Mobile’s “Expo.”
At Mother, Elliott created work including Orange’s D&AD Pencil-winning “Gold Spot” cinema campaign in which celebrities such as Patrick Swayze, Carrie Fisher, Spike Lee, Darth Vader and Darryl Hannah pitched their film ideas to the Orange Film Funding Board, only to have their pitch ruined by a mobile phone. This led to the creation of Orange Wednesdays: one of the UK’s most successful sponsorship and reward programs ever, with tens of millions of tickets redeemed.
Elliott also made headlines at Mother for Dr Pepper’s Lion-winning “What’s The Worst That Could Happen?”–in which people tried the drink and were dramatically publicly humiliated–and SuperNoodles’ West-Side-Story-inspired spoof campaign ‘Face Off’.
Elliott said: “It will be hard to leave Lucky Generals – I’ll be leaving a rock-steady ship with a rock-steady crew, but for me this is a golden opportunity. CHI is small enough for me to make a difference and big enough for us to make an impact. I’m already really looking forward to working with Micky [CHI joint ECD Tudor] and Goldie [CHI CEO Sarah Golding].
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More