Lorene Scafaria is part of a distinguished group of Succession (HBO) directors. How distinguished? This year Succession swept the DGA Awards’ dramatic series category nominations--Kevin Bray for the “Retired Janitors of Idaho” episode; Mark Mylod, who wound up winning the DGA honor, for “All the Bells Say”; Andrij Parekh for “What It Takes”; Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman for “Lion in the Meadow”; and Scafaria for “Too Much Birthday.” To earn a DGA nomination for “a show that I’m in... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- One DP has been nominated for the Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera One-Hour Series Emmy three times for the same show, winning twice. Another has put his stamp on one of the most acclaimed dramatic series of all time. Our next cinematographer--an Emmy, BAFTA and ASC Award winner--broke new ground on a U.S. series featuring a predominantly Asian cast, with characters speaking mostly Korean and Japanese. And our fourth DP--who shot a pair of Best Picture Oscar nominees--made his... Read More 

NEW YORK -- The year’s best advertising was saluted tonight (6/9) during a gala AICP Awards celebration and screening at The Museum of Modern Art. Winners for the 2022 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the Commercial, the AICP Next Awards and the AICP Post Awards premiered earlier in the week at AICP Week’s Base Camp venue at the Angelika Theatre. The top prizes in each competition--the AICP Show’s Advertising Excellence and Advertising Excellence/Campaign winners, the Next Awards’ Most Next winner and... Read More 

Jealousy is not normally considered a healthy emotion--that is, unless you’re in an awards show judging room. Feeling jealous about an entry is a strong instinctive indication that you may have seen and experienced something which has likely raised the creative bar for the industry. This assessment about the virtue of jealousy was echoed by a pair of jury presidents and a judge who are set to see what the world has to offer creatively and strategically at the upcoming Cannes Lions competition... Read More 

Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, a two-time Best Short Subject Documentary Oscar winner, makes her directorial debut in narrative live-action fiction with two episodes of Ms. Marvel , a much anticipated series from Marvel Studios which launched this week on Disney+. A journalist, filmmaker and humanitarian, Obaid-Chinoy gained a high profile globally with Saving Face , a documentary short she directed with Daniel Junge and which went on to win an Academy Award in 2012. Saving Face , which gave Pakistan... Read More 

NEW YORK -- The small screen doesn’t have the numbers of its big screen counterpart at the Tribeca Film Festival, which got underway last night (6/8) and runs through June 19. But the television and NOW entrants that made the festival cut also represent select company. For a quick overview by comparison, the high-profile 2022 feature lineup for Tribeca spans 111 features and 16 online premieres from 151 filmmakers across 40 countries. There are 88 world premieres, two international premieres, seven North... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Jennifer Lopez documentary "Halftime" kicked off the 21st Tribeca Festival, launching the annual New York event with an intimate behind-the-scenes portrait of the singer-actor filmed during the tumultuous year she turned 50, co-headlined the Super Bowl and narrowly missed out on an Oscar nomination. The premiere at the United Palace in Washington Heights served as an appropriate opener for the Tribeca Festival, which has jettisoned "Film" from its name to better reflect the wide array of... Read More 

ATHENS, Ga. -- The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors unveiled all 30 programs representing the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2021. Of the 30 winners, PBS led with six, followed by HBO/HBO Max with four, Netflix with three, and Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, and The New York Times each with two. Additional winning networks and platforms include ABC, FX, KUSA, NBC News, NPR, Peacock, Rumble Strip, and VICE. “Whether exposing injustice, detailing uncomfortable... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voted today to name Bill Kramer, current director and president of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, as its new CEO, following the departure of Dawn Hudson after 11 years of esteemed service. Kramer will lead the global membership, the Oscars, the institution’s education and emerging talent initiatives, the Academy’s extensive collections housed in the Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, and the... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Tribeca Festival’s Tribeca X is returning to celebrate the intersection of advertising and entertainment. The annual event recognizes the achievements of companies and creators who share a mission to connect with consumers through the power of storytelling. Tribeca X will convene industry leaders on June 15 to examine the landscape of branded entertainment. This year’s panel conversations and intimate fireside chats kick off with a keynote from Haider Rafique, global CMO of cryptocurrency... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Sheila R. Brown has been appointed as the AICP’s first-ever VP, equity & inclusion. Brown will represent the association in all matters related to diversity, equity and inclusion; lead AICP’s Equity & Inclusion Committee; and work directly with AICP members to advise on implementation of initiatives, as well as navigate client and agency directives in the space. Brown joins AICP from the CineCares Division of Cinespace Film Studios, where she was its executive director. There she... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Bicoastal production studio m ss ng p eces has brought multi-talented director Marta Cunningham aboard its roster for worldwide representation spanning commercials and branded content. Cunningham is a prolific television director having worked on hit shows that include Insecure (HBO), Fear the Walking Dead (AMC), Star Trek Discovery (Paramount +), You (Netflix), Transparent (Amazon Prime), Room 104 (HBO), How to Get Away with Murder (ABC), Dear White People (Netflix) and Dispatches from... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- RSA Films has signed filmmaker Jonny Mass for commercial representation in the U.S. and U.K. Mass--who had previously been with RadicalMedia--has directed campaigns for the likes of BMW, Toyota, Porsche and Ducati, putting him on the fast track as a sought-after car director. “Jonny is an incredible talent whose work captured our attention immediately,” commented Luke Ricci president of RSA Films US. “His visual storytelling is visceral and fun, reflecting his passion for driving and the action... Read More 

LONDON -- Cannes Lions has named Ted Sarandos, co-CEO, Netflix, as the 2022 Entertainment Person of the Year. Presented in recognition of the vital role that entertainment plays in the marketing and communications landscape, the Cannes honor celebrates the creativity that inspires others to produce truly compelling, meaningful and entertaining content. Sarandos will be presented with the award at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, live Awards Show, on Thursday, June 23. The Netflix... Read More 

Leo Burnett has released its 34th annual Cannes Predictions ahead of this year’s Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity – forecasting the agency’s 20 frontrunners to win the festival’s coveted Lions. For the second year, Leo Burnett global chief creative officer Chaka Sobhani has curated Leo’s list, representing top work from Publicis Groupe and the ad industry at large. Sobhani continues the decades-old tradition that has achieved nearly 90% accuracy in predicting winners. “If there... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- There is only one person who, in the middle of a massive dystopic dinosaur movie, can utter a line like "That's bananas" with just the right timing and inflection. For almost three decades, off and on, Jeff Goldblum has played Dr. Ian Malcolm with particular Goldblumian panache. As the stylish chaos theorist of the "Jurassic Park" and "Jurassic World" films, Goldblum is voice of reason and comedy relief in one, an auger of nature's unpredictability who can't help marveling at seeing his... Read More 

DETROIT (AP) -- Elon Musk is threatening to walk away from his $44 billion bid to buy Twitter, accusing the company of refusing to give him information about its spam bot and fake accounts. Lawyers for the Tesla and SpaceX CEO made the threat in a letter to Twitter dated Monday that the company disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The lawyers wrote that Musk has repeatedly asked for the information since May 9, about a month after his offer to buy the company, so he could... Read More 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The test couldn't have been much easier — and Facebook still failed. Facebook and its parent company Meta flopped once again in a test of how well they could detect obviously violent hate speech in advertisements submitted to the platform by the nonprofit groups Global Witness and Foxglove. The hateful messages focused on Ethiopia, where internal documents obtained by whistleblower Frances Haugen showed that Facebook's ineffective moderation is "literally fanning ethnic violence," as she said... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- BBH Entertainment, the entertainment development arm of creative agency BBH USA, has brought in TV producer and development executive Ali Fazel to serve as its SVP, head of development and current programming. His credits include hit shows such as Shark Tank . Reporting to BBH USA CEO Amani Duncan and CCO Rafa Rizuto, Fazel will lead BBH Entertainment’s development of premium entertainment content, both branded and unbranded--including television, feature film, documentary and more. Fazel joins... Read More 

LONDON -- The Mill, a Technicolor Creative Studio, has added Andrew Melchior to its global executive leadership team. Melchior joins The Mill as executive VP and global director of the company’s Brand Experience arm, with a focus on innovative creative solutions for brands and creative agencies. Melchior is an award-winning creative director, technologist and producer, who is most notably known for his extensive work with Icelandic artist, Björk, for which he was awarded the first-ever Cannes Lions for... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Filmmaker and editor Miles Cable is joining Impossible Objects (IO) as a director for virtual production. Launched in 2021, IO is a new world-building lab that utilizes virtual production to tell branded and original stories. In tandem with its technical expertise, IO attracts and develops talent through hands-on mentorship that focuses on skill acquisition and excellence in craft. A Chicago native and NYC resident, Cable honed his creative prowess as a teenager, directing and editing his own... Read More 

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Industry veteran Hillary Rogers has joined creative advertising studios Bullitt and The Directors Bureau (TDB) as managing director. Rogers will oversee business operations aligning creative, production, management, and sales efforts across both companies. Rogers most recently served as managing director of Pulse Films, where she drove the growth and management of the American branded division of the U.K.-based production company. “Bringing Hillary on board cements the commitment we’ve made to... Read More 

LONDON -- Two of Us, a London-based production company headed by EP Gianni Cerretani, has reinforced its Atlantic alliance by signing American comedy director Michael Leary on a global basis with the exception of the U.S. Two of Us has been in worldwide partnership with another American director, visual storyteller Corydon Wagner, for many years and the addition of Leary adds another promising creative spark from across the pond to its roster as Leary is building on a breakthrough year in 2020 when he... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The U.S. split from Great Britain is history, but the monarchy still has a hold on its former colony's heart. Two specials about Queen Elizabeth II and the celebration of her 70th year on the throne broke into last week's top 20 highest-rated programs in primetime, according to Nielsen figures out Tuesday. ABC's "Party at the Palace," a star-laden concert that included Elton John, Diana Ross and Queen with Adam Lambert, ranked No. 15. The CBS News documentary "Her Majesty the Queen," hosted by... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The high-flying "Top Gun: Maverick" continued to soar in its second weekend, dropping just 32% from its opening with $86 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Paramount Pictures release, with Tom Cruise reprising his role from the 1986 original, is holding steadier than any film of its kind has before. Its modest drop — 50-65% is more typical for blockbusters — is the smallest decline for a movie that opened above $100 million. "Top Gun: Maverick" debuted with $124... Read More 

Quirky habits, bad jokes and even worse dancing feature in a new campaign for Prostate Cancer UK, created by BBH London as a love letter to dads in the run up to Father’s Day on June 19, and a reminder of everything we’d miss about them if they weren’t around. In BBH’s two-minute hero film, “Ode to Dads” directed by Dan Emmerson of Somesuch, candid video and photography show real fathers getting up to typical dad behavior, set to a version of “She’s the One,” originally by World Party and... Read More 

Fishermen from the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius face two major problems: Exposure to the sun is destroying their eyes while plastic pollution is destroying their fishing grounds. To address those issues, CIRCUS!, a partner agency of Publicis Groupe Africa, launched the ReSight project for client Helios Eyewear, a brand owned by Mauritius’ leading economic player ENL Group. Helios manufactures fashionable contemporary eyewear. The ReSight initiative involved local fishermen in beach... Read More 

The iconic Apple iPod “Silhouettes” campaign from 2003 has been remade with some new twists--with a film promoting AirPods (and its Spatial Audio), featuring Harry Styles as well as his “Music for a Sushi Restaurant,” a song from his new album. Bursting with color and dancers, the film is in the “Silhouettes” spirit--directed by Gal Muggia and Vania Heymann for TBWA\Media Arts Lab. Read More 

Arnold Worldwide’s creative collaboration with its client, cable provider and broadband company Cox Communications has yielded a campaign centered around the digital divide across U.S. households. Designed to bridge that gap is Connect2Compete (C2C), a Cox program which provides lower-income families with low-cost, high speed internet. The impact of the digital divide is profound as it relates to children and students. According to Common Sense Media, 15 to 16 million students don’t have access... Read More 

Johan Stahl recently directed “Bus Ride,” a heartwarming commercial for Cadbury Chocolate. The spot, which features a sweet twist on the old “don’t judge a book by its cover” adage, debuted in Asia on TV and online. The :60 spot opens on a mother as she tries to console her crying toddler on a nighttime bus ride. Another passenger looks over in dismay and opens his window to drown out the little boy’s cries. An intimidating-looking man dressed in black saunters onto the bus causing the... Read More 

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