Independent creative agency Zambezi has hired Dan Maxwell as creative director, Annie Johnston as associate creative director and promoted Chris Rutkowski to associate creative director.
Maxwell, who had been freelancing in recent years, held previous staff positions as associate creative director at R/GA Los Angeles, copywriter at Wieden+Kennedy and creative technologist at Venables, Bell and Partners. He was part of the W+K team that won a Cannes Gold Grand Prix for Heineken’s “The Express” campaign featuring Daniel Craig as James Bond, and helped launch Beats by Dre while at R/GA, winning a Sports Gold Grand Clio for the “Hear What You Want” campaign.
Johnston, a veteran art director from TBWAChiatDay, was an integral part of winning the Airbnb pitch and producing the Effie winning international TV commercial. Throughout her time there, Johnston worked closely with Lee Clow on animal welfare group, Best Friends Animal Society.
Rutkowski is a three-year veteran of Zambezi, which he joined after working at Pereira O’Dell. As sr. art director he was part of the Zambezi team that won the Cannes Mobile Gold Award for the “Uncommon Force” campaign for Stance.
First-Time Feature Directors Make Major Splash At AFI Fest, Generate Oscar Buzz
Two first-time feature directors who are generating Oscar buzz this awards season were front and center this past weekend at AFI Fest in Hollywood. Rachel Morrison, who made history as the first woman nominated for a Best Cinematography Oscar---on the strength of Mudbound in 2018--brought her feature directorial debut, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios), to the festival on Sunday (10/27), and shared insights into the film during a conversation session immediately following the screening. This came a day after William Goldenberg, an Oscar-winning editor for Argo in 2013, had his initial foray into feature directing, Unstoppable (Amazon MGM Studios), showcased at the AFI proceedings. He too spoke after the screening during a panel discussion. The Fire Inside--which made its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival--tells the story of Claressa “T-Rex” Shields (portrayed by Ryan Destiny), a Black boxer from Flint, Mich., who trained to become the first woman in U.S. history to win an Olympic Gold Medal in the sport. She achieved this feat--with the help of coach Jason Crutchfield (Brian Tyree Henry)--only to find that her victory at the Summer Games came with relatively little fanfare and no endorsement deals. So much for the hope that the historic accomplishment would be a ticket out of socioeconomic purgatory for Shields and her family. It seemed like yet another setback in a cycle of adversity throughout Shields’ life but she persevered, going on to win her second Gold Medal at the next Olympics and becoming a champion for gender equality and equitable pay for women in sports. Shields has served as a source of inspiration for woman athletes worldwide--as well as to the community of... Read More