Race, nationalism, the notion of what constitutes a hero--these substantive topics along with the chance to as a solo woman director take on a Marvel Studios property, typically the province of male helmers, were among the compelling factors that spurred Kari Skogland to take on the series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+). Also drawing her to the show--for which she also served as an executive producer--was the opportunity to direct all of its six episodes as Marvel approached The... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- As a student at Wesleyan, Lin-Manuel Miranda began writing what would become "In the Heights," the musical that would launch him as a playwright and performer and that would lead, two decades later, to Jon M. Chu's upcoming lavish big-screen adaptation. He was motivated, like any confident young artist, by ambition. But also by something else. "It was a lot of fear, honestly," Miranda said in a recent interview. "I had a real wake-up call when I was 18, 19 and starting to study theater. The... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The 20th Tribeca Festival is aiming to not just rebuild itself after its 2020 edition was largely scuttled by the pandemic, but to help revitalize its hometown. This year's Tribeca, which opens Wednesday with Jon M. Chu's adaption of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical "In the Heights," will be spread throughout all five boroughs of New York with a mix of in-person and virtual screenings, ultimately culminating in a full-capacity premiere at a newly reopened Radio City Music Hall. For a festival... Read More 

LONDON -- The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has unveiled the winners of this year’s Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards, celebrating and rewarding the very best programs and performances of 2020. Following its three wins at the British Academy Television Craft Awards in May, I May Destroy You , the drama series featuring a woman who seeks to rebuild her life after a sexual assault, won two more BAFTAs--for Best Miniseries, and Leading Actress for Michaela Coel. The Leading Actor... Read More 

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Bringing her camera to a home for unwed mothers on South Korea’s Jeju island, Sun Hee Engelstoft anticipated an empowering story about young women keeping their babies. Instead, she ended up with a raw and unsettling documentary about how a deeply conservative sexual culture, loose birth registration laws and a largely privatized adoption system continue to pressure and shame single mothers into relinquishing their children for adoption. The shock and grief of mother-child separations and... Read More 

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Tentative plans for a movie that recounts the response of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to a gunman's slaughter of Muslim worshippers drew criticism in New Zealand on Friday for not focusing on the victims of the attacks. Hollywood news outlet Deadline reported that Australian actor Rose Byrne was set to play Ardern in the movie “They Are Us,” which was being shopped by New York-based FilmNation Entertainment to international buyers. The movie would be set in the days after the 2019 attacks in... Read More 

PARIS (AP) -- Google is being fined 220 million euros ($268 million) by France's antitrust watchdog for abusing its "dominant" position in online advertising. Practices used by the search engine giant to sell ads "penalize Google's competitors" along with publishers of mobile sites and applications, the Competition Authority said Monday. It is the responsibility of a company with a dominant market position to avoid undermining its competition. Google, based in Mountain View, California, did not dispute the... Read More 

MILAN (AP) -- Anyone whose virtual alter ego is wandering around the Roblox online game platform these days might run into other avatars sporting Gucci handbags, sunglasses or hats. The digital-only items were part of a limited Gucci collection for Roblox, a step by the fashion house that prides itself on Italian craftsmanship to enter an expanding virtual space where many of its youngest admirers already are at home. Players in the metaverse — where virtual worlds, augmented reality and the internet meet —... Read More 

NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES -- Director Matt Ogens has joined bicoastal production studio m ss ng p eces for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. Known for his evocative visual storytelling across a variety of media including documentary, narrative, commercials, and branded content, Ogens was previously handled in the ad arena by Bullitt. Ogens’ breakthrough documentary Confessions of a Superhero premiered at SXSW to critical acclaim, and he subsequently went on to earn a primetime Emmy Award for his... Read More 

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Director Michael Haussman has joined the Slash Dynamic roster for U.S. commercials. Additionally Slash Dynamic has entered into a partnership with Haussman’s European company, Person Films, which is headed by Cecile Leroy Beaulieu. The launch of the partnership coincides with the premiere of Haussman’s latest feature film, Edge of the World , which was released this week and is now #1 new movie on Apple iTunes. The epic adventure starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers tells the true story of Sir James... Read More 

NEW YORK -- BIPOC-owned creative studio, production and postproduction company Scheme Engine has added Kenyan director and artist Amirah Tajdin to its roster for U.S. representation in commercials while handling her globally for music videos. Born and raised in Nairobi, Tajdin takes pride in being Black, Arab, Kenyan, Muslim, an aesthete, and a woman most of all. Tajdin spent her teen years in Dubai and received a BFA in South Africa and Baltimore. Her work is informed by a unique global perspective, her... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- “Jeopardy!” needed a host, and Lucille Ball had an enthusiastic suggestion for creator Merv Griffin: The smooth-voiced, debonair emcee of the “High Rollers” game show. That was 1984. Decades later, filling the void left by the late Alex Trebek involves sophisticated research and a parade of guest hosts doing their best to impress viewers and the studio that's expected to make the call before the new season begins taping later this summer. Think of Sony Pictures Television as clutching the rose... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- B-Reel Films has added queer, Two Spirit, Xicanx artist, director and photographer Devyn Galindo to its talent roster. This marks Galindo’s first official signing as a director. Galindo identifies as Two-Spirit, an indigenous term that describes a third gender with both masculine and feminine traits, and Galindo goes by she/her and nonbinary pronouns (they/them.) Galindo prioritizes artistry, and allows that to enrich and inform their ad work, endeavoring to inject poetry into every frame... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Doron Max Hagay, comedy director and writer whose credits includes directing short films for Saturday Night Live for two seasons, has joined The Directors Bureau, marking his first representation in the commercialmaking space. Hagay’s astute observational comedy unites quirky performance with a subtle undercurrent of emotional candor and pop-culture sensibility. “We were immediately drawn to Doron’s work at SNL and are excited to introduce him to advertising theater,” said The Directors Bureau’... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Johannes Leonardo in NY has hired Julia Neumann as chief creative officer. An industry veteran who has held executive creative roles at several leading advertising agencies, Neumann most recently was ECD at TBWA\Chiat\Day NY where she spent the last three years leading creative output for brands such as Mtn Dew, and Adidas. Johannes Leonardo co-founders Jan Jacobs and Leo Premutico have brought in Neumann on the heels of the agency’s forward momentum that is strengthened by notable wins within... Read More 

SAUSALITO, Calif. -- Butler, Shine, Stern and Partners (BSSP) has hired Robyn Tenenbaum to serve as creative director. Tenenbaum will lead the agency ensemble working with Blue Shield of California (BSC) in developing impactful work for the healthcare provider. Based in Portland, Ore., Tenenbaum will report to group creative directors Sinan Dagli and Nicole Michels McDonagh and serve on the creative leadership team. A Texan turned Chicagoan turned Coloradoan turned Pacific Northwesterner, Tenenbaum has worked at... Read More 

NEW YORK -- AMV BBDO London capped off a hugely successful year at The One Show 2021, winning Best of Show and being named the show’s Agency of the Year today after taking six Best of Discipline awards last week. The UK shop won all of its 12 Gold Pencils this year on behalf of client Essity Bodyform/Libresse, with Best of Show going to “#wombpainstories”, which won Gold in Integrated, Interactive & Online, and Public Relations. Seven Golds went to the agency’s “#wombstories” for the client — two in... Read More 

NEW YORK -- DDB Germany Berlin was the big winner at the historic ADC 100th Annual Awards. Honors were unveiled today (6/9) as part of The One Club for Creativity’s global Creative Week 2021. The agency was awarded the highly coveted ADC Black Cube for Best of Show for “The Uncensored Library,” working with MediaMonks Hilversum and Blockworks London on behalf of Reporters Without Borders. The work also received the ADC Designism Cube for the entry that best encourages positive societal and political change... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Glenn Cole, co-founder and creative chairman of 72andSunny, has been elected national board chairman of The One Club for Creativity. Previously vice chair, he succeeds FCB Global CCO Susan Credle, whose term ends this month. Board member Pum Lefebure, co-founder and CCO of Design Army, moves up to the role of vice chair. The two were elected by a vote of the current board, and will each serve a three-year term. They will officially assume their new roles next week in a special transition... Read More 

TORONTO -- Joanna Monteiro has been named chief creative officer at Publicis Toronto. She will report to agency president Brett McIntosh. Monteiro joins Publicis Toronto from Brazilian advertising agency Heads Propaganda, where she was previously CCO. Prior to that, she held a number of senior creative roles across Brazil, including CCO at FCB. She also spent time at various creative agencies such as Africa Advertising, Ogilvy, DPZ&T and W/McCann. Monteiro brings an expansive creative pedigree to her... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- That Ellen Burstyn plays a woman who recoils at the very mention of a retirement community in the upcoming film "Queen Bees" is extremely appropriate. Rarely has an actor been as good for as long as Burstyn has. She is still, at 88, tireless, her vitality almost preternaturally undiminished. As intense as her early career was — Lee Strasberg's The Actors Studio in the late 1960s followed by '70s classics like "The Last Picture Show," "The Exorcist" and "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" — her... Read More 

NBCUniversal will present 7,000 hours of coverage of the upcoming Tokyo Olympics across eight networks and multiple digital platforms from July 20 to Aug. 8. The Tokyo Games will be NBCUniversal's 11th consecutive Olympics production and ninth consecutive Summer Games — beginning with the 1988 Seoul Games. NBC's first Olympics were in Tokyo in 1964. NBC is scheduled to air 250 hours across 17 days, headlined by its prime-time coverage. NBC also announced earlier this year that it would air live... Read More 

"I am Usnavi and you prob'ly never heard my name," declares bodega owner Usnavi at the start of "In the Heights," Lin-Manuel Miranda's contagiously joyous ode to his beloved Washington Heights neighborhood. "Reports of my fame are greatly exaggerated." Um … maybe not for long. Projects by Miranda tend to attract a wee bit of attention. Even in the annals of musical theater, by nature filled with Cinderella stories, "In the Heights" has an amazing backstory. It began two decades ago when a... Read More 

The new Mark Wahlberg movie “Infinite ” poses an intoxicating scenario for all down-on-their-luck know-it-alls: What if you’re actually a reincarnated immortal who is not just the smartest and the best at everything but also necessary to save humanity? In the world of Hollywood wish fulfillment premises, women get to discover they’re secret princesses. Men get to discover they’re secret geniuses who can wield a katana while riding a motorcycle in a high-speed chase. (I know, I know, there are... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Many U.S. companies have rushed to appoint Black members to their boards of directors since racial justice protests swept the country last year. But in the two preceding years, progress on increasing racial diversity on boards stagnated, a new study revealed Tuesday. Black men even lost ground. The Board Diversity Census, conducted by the Alliance of Board Diversity and the consulting firm Deloitte, points to the steep deficit companies face when it comes to fulfilling pledges to diversity in... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The domestic box office is getting back to normal, with moderate wins and sizable second weekend drops. After its triumphant first weekend, "A Quiet Place Part II" fell 59% at the North American box office leaving room for the third movie in the "Conjuring" franchise to take first place. Warner Bros.' "The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It" earned an estimated $24 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, making it the biggest R-rated opening of the pandemic. Paramount's "A Quiet Place"... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Former President Donald Trump reached less than a million measurable television viewers over the weekend in his return to the public stage at a North Carolina political event. Newsmax averaged just under 700,000 viewers between 8 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturday when Trump spoke, the Nielsen company said. His speech was also carried live on One America News Network and C-SPAN, but their audience is not measured by Nielsen. Fox News Channel did not carry the speech by the former president beloved by... Read More 

Facebook announced Friday that former President Donald Trump's accounts will be suspended for two years, freezing his presence on the social network until early 2023, following a finding that Trump stoked violence ahead of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol. At the end of the suspension, the company will assess whether Trump's "risk to public safety" has subsided, Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, wrote in a blog post. He said Facebook will take into account "... Read More 

This campaign from Serviceplan Hamburg for the U.S. anti-gun violence organization Newtown Action Alliance features this film titled "#NotComingHome," Directed by Martin Krejci and produced by Iconoclast and Ruffian, the story at first takes the form and feel of popular homecoming videos, where U.S soldiers are shown at the very moment they come back home to their families from overseas war zones. "#NotComingHome," though, comes with a surprising and tragic twist, which highlights the... Read More 

This hero film from agency VCCP in London humorously depicts the familiar situation of rallying up your friends to order a Domino’s pizza. The opening scene begins with a young man staring dramatically off into the distance. He unexpectedly proceeds to yodel “DOMIN-OH-HOO-HOO,” translated to the words “Domino’s round mine?” It cuts to two of his friends, fixed on a video game, having heard the rallying call and responding that they would both in fact love a pizza, of the Pepperoni Passion... Read More 

Mercedes-Benz Vans has rolled out its global “Made to Perform” campaign from agency Preuss Und Preuss and directed by Bernd Faass who’s represented by Park Pictures (UK/US) and Element E (Germany). This “Made to Perform” film follows a fleet of Mercedes-Benz Vans drivers as they celebrate their vans in pure synchronicity. The piece is a cinematic climb as the drivers build to execute a perfect Mercedes-Benz logo formation, for which Faass displays technical excellence adeptly handled with his... Read More 

As sports fans attention turns to the NBA playoffs, Hennessy, the official spirit of the NBA, WNBA, NBA G League and USA Basketball, has rolled out a creative campaign from Droga5 NY, “Make Moves That Start Movements,” which speaks to the power each individual has to make an impact on the game loved by so many. The campaign stars NBA star Russell Westbrook, ”Literally Balling” artist Victor Solomon, and founder of Hoop York City Alex Taylor. To celebrate their combined vision, Hennessy has... Read More 

It’s Feet Hurt O’Clock in the new campaign for Dr. Scholl’s®. In a busy hotel lobby and on a carnival fairgrounds midway, people are frozen mid-action. Everyone, that is, except Tom and Rose, respectively, who have a spring in their step and energy to spare thanks to two secret weapons: Dr. Scholl’s® Custom Fit® Orthotics & Dr Scholl’s Insoles with Massaging Gel®. Artfully designed and elaborately choreographed, the playful spots are a visual feast created by agency JOAN Creative and... Read More 

Directed by The Artery’s Uri Schutzer, this SodaStream International brand film, entitled Rainbow Story , visualizes key moments from the life of Emmy-nominated actress and LGTBQ+ activist Laverne Cox through both live-action content and classic 2D animation. The narrative follows Cox from her childhood to the accomplished woman she is today. The animated compositions, which were led by The-Artery’s Yonatan Tal, include Cox transforming into a flying superhero, colorful parades, the Supreme... Read More 

Ultimate Kronos Group (UKG), a global provider of HR solutions and workforce management software, rolled out this spot from agency Zambezi set to a reimagined version of the song “Manic Monday.” Titled “Morning Routine,” the :30--directed by John Merizelde and Kelsey Laroche of production company Florence--showcases a variety of perspectives of the pre-work routine. The spot opens on a businesswoman choosing an outfit, then continues to a man drinking his morning coffee while he shaves, a... Read More 

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