The quest for truth is a driving force for documentarians. And filmmakers T.J. Martin and Dan Lindsay have over the years successfully made that journey spanning long and short-form fare--the latter reflected in the aptly titled “The Truth Is Worth It” campaign for The New York Times out of Droga5 New York spanning such spots as “Resolve,” “Fearlessness” and “The Truth Doesn’t Write Itself.” Martin and Lindsay directed via production house Furlined and have seen the work garner two Cannes Grand... Read More 

CANNES, France (AP) -- Sean Penn is sort of done with movies. He's still making them, here and there. But Penn is mostly seeing out commitments he made years earlier. After those? He's not so sure how much more he's going to be acting or directing. Penn, the 61-year-old maverick actor and sometimes filmmaker, is in many ways happily out of step with many of the prevailing winds in Hollywood. Streaming films? Franchise movies? So-called "cancel culture?" All of these things draw his ire, to various degrees. Meanwhile... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tune in to catch "Nine Perfect Strangers" and you'll find drama and suspense. But underneath the hood you might also see some heady stuff, says star Nicole Kidman. "It kind of delves into some of the biggest existentialist questions," she says. "What is reality? What place can you choose to exist in? Can we alter that? Is there another reality that we can access that maybe is a more desired reality?" The Hulu limited series that starts Wednesday is definitely ambitious, centering on nine... Read More 

LONDON (AP) -- Sandra Oh has been dancing with death and serial killer Villanelle on "Killing Eve" since 2018, so she could do with a laugh. That's one of the reasons the Canadian-American actor took on the role of Professor Ji-Yoon Kim, the newly appointed head of a prestigious but struggling college's English department in Netflix's comedy-drama series "The Chair." As rewarding as she finds "Killing Eve," Oh said, its darker elements make it "hard for me to shoot the show.... I feel like I've wanted to live... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has appointed creative icon David Droga, founder and chairman of Droga5, as Accenture Interactive’s new CEO and creative chairman, effective September 1, 2021. Brian Whipple, who has led Accenture Interactive for the last 10 years, has announced his retirement from Accenture. Under Whipple’s leadership, in fiscal year 2020 (ended Aug. 31, 2020), Accenture Interactive grew to $10.6 billion in revenue. In his new global role, Droga will drive creative excellence, customer... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Girl Culture Films has signed Brazil-born director and visual artist Juliana Curi to its roster for representation in the U.S. and Canada spanning commercials, branded content and music videos. From the start of her career, when she developed social-awareness campaigns around climate justice and HIV for MTV Brazil, Curi has engaged audiences in urgent cultural causes with cinematic and artistic flair. Her joining Girl Culture Films advances the company’s mission to bring underrepresented... Read More 

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- International production company Stink Films has brought director Josh Ruben aboard its U.S. roster for commercials and branded content representation. Drawing from his unique perspective as a writer, performer, and director, Ruben has turned out work that is immersive and youthful, moving deftly across genres and playing upon classic comedy tropes to build vividly realized worlds populated by unforgettable characters. Ruben’s comedy horror film Werewolves Within was an official selection of... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Ricard Valero has been named to lead creative at MullenLowe New York. Valero, who takes on the role of executive creative director, will report to the U.S. CEO Lee Newman. Valero comes over from TBWA\Chiat\Day New York, where he was ECD. He will work alongside MullenLowe NY’s leadership team, managing director Rebekah Pagis and head of strategy Jonny Gadd. “Part of the appeal of joining MullenLowe New York is the freedom to lead the office with my own creative vision,” said Valero. “I’m... Read More 

SAN FRANCISCO -- Jordan Doucette has been appointed chief creative officer of FCB West, the boutique creative agency in San Francisco. In partnership with FCB West president and chief strategy officer Simon White, Doucette will lead creative vision for FCB West’s client portfolio that includes Levi’s, Clorox and Ghirardelli, as well as HOKA ONE ONE, which appointed FCB as its first-ever global creative agency of record in June 2021. Doucette will also be working closely with global chief creative officer Susan... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- A new film reveals and renews the tensions that went into creating the Sept. 11 museum beneath the memorial waterfalls and reflecting pool at the World Trade Center. Unhappy museum officials have objected and sought changes to "The Outsider," a documentary being released this week that reveals conflicting visions behind the New York landmark, which opened in 2014. The film becomes public Thursday through an unusual venue — Facebook, which will stream it to users for $3.99. Following that, it... Read More 

"Candyman" was always more than a surface level horror film. The 1992 film dealt with class, race and trauma. But almost 30 years later, a new version in theaters Aug. 27 reclaims and recenters the narrative around the Black experience. The original film took the seeds of a Clive Barker short story set in a Liverpool slum and transported it to Chicago's Cabrini-Green housing projects, where the Boogeyman was Black and the lens to the world was a white female doctoral student studying urban... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- The pandemic accelerated changes in how people use their televisions, further reducing the dominance in traditional live viewing of what networks are showing, a new study has found. Nearly two-thirds of people said in June that they viewed free video on demand content on their televisions once a week, up from 46% in February 2020, according to Hub Entertainment Research. Hub also found that 39% of people said they paid to watch a movie at least once a week, and 39% also said they paid to watch... Read More 

BOSTON -- Creative and production studio Sweet Rickey has signed director Zanah Thirus for U.S. representation spanning film, branded content, documentary and narrative projects. This marks her first career production company representation. A producer, writer, and director from Chicago, Thirus back in 2020 was named one of Diversity in Cannes’ Top 10 Filmmakers of the Decade. An independent film movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival, Diversity in Cannes commemorated its 10th... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Creative and production studio Stept has added director Andrew De Zen to its talent roster. De Zen has worked on assorted forms of content, including commercials, documentaries, music videos, short films, web fare, and everything in between. He has helmed campaigns for global brands such as Nike, PlayStation, SiriusXM, Cadillac, ESPN, and Sony. He directed Under Armour’s SS21 “Mental Health” campaign, featuring American Olympic icon Michael Phelps and two time unified world heavyweight champion... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Following a successful first year, ONE School, the groundbreaking free portfolio school for Black creatives, has opened applications for its fall 2021 programs run out of Atlanta and Chicago. The results-oriented online program has already made a substantial contribution to adding diversity to the industry: six cohorts run out of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles and New York prepared 84 new Black creatives--65% of them women--to enter the industry in its first year. ONE School has an 80% hire rate... Read More 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Laura Fegley is joining BBDO Minneapolis as chief creative officer, effective August 23. She will partner with president and CEO Neil White and lead the agency’s creative department. Fegley is a self-described “Midwest boomerang,” She returned to the heart of the country five years ago after almost two decades at some of the most storied agencies in New York. As an executive creative director at BBH NY, she was the global creative lead on Vaseline, and she held creative director roles at JWT... Read More 

They say silence is golden. It's a silly phrase, really, but it takes on an urgent poignancy for three stunning minutes in "CODA," Siân Heder's refreshing, loving and altogether irresistible film about a deaf family with one hearing daughter. In this extraordinary scene, Ruby, 17 (impressive newcomer Emilia Jones) and mother Jackie (a superb Marlee Matlin) are having a heart-to-heart in Ruby's bedroom — something all of us moms and daughters have experienced, except not, because one is deaf and... Read More 

Just as surely as climate change is scarring the land and warming the seas, it is also flooding our movies. The planet's imperiled future has been in the DNA of disaster movies like "The Day After Tomorrow" for years, of course. But lately, climate has taken a more leading role in films proliferating as quickly as ice caps are melting. This summer has seen the parched, Australian thriller "The Dry" (good movie, by the way) and "The Tomorrow War," a time-traveling war movie that leads to an... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- "Free Guy," an action comedy starring Ryan Reynolds as a background character in a videogame, opened better than expected over the weekend, collecting an estimated $28.4 million in ticket sales despite a marketplace challenged by COVID-19. After a few weeks of declining audiences and underwhelming debuts amid the delta variant surge, "Free Guy" succeeded with an old-school formula: an original, star-fronted movie with good word-of-mouth playing only in theaters. The movie directed by Shawn Levy... Read More 

With support from anti-racism education non-profit WE ARE, the Ad Council, and the ADL (Anti-Defamation League), IPG DXTRA has introduced a new public awareness campaign, Dear White Parents, encouraging White parents to talk with their children about racism early and often. “Children as young as four years old show signs of racial bias and racism, but we’ve also seen young children act as advocates for fairness, or equity,” said Dr. Ronda Taylor Bullock, executive curator of WE ARE, an anti-... Read More 

Mercado Livre, the e-commerce and financial services technology firm in Latin America, recently launched its new Father’s Day campaign, created by global independent creative agency GUT in São Paulo, Brazil. (Father’s Day was Aug. 8 in Brazil.) A tribute that has been touching fans’ hearts all around the world, the “Goal 335” explores the relationship between Zico, a Brazilian football legend, and his father, José Antunes Coimbra, who died in 1986. Zico’s father, due to a heart condition, never... Read More 

In a world where smart assistants live inside your phone and on your countertop and even your fridge connects to WiFi, why can’t printers be smart, too? With HP+, printing finally got smart, with printers that order their own ink, have automatic self-healing WiFi connection, and offer a plethora of smart features through the Smart App. How smart is the HP printer? This film--created by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, directed and shot by Lance Acord of Park Pictures--introduces folks to what... Read More 

Hip hop artist and actor Ludacris stars in this Jif peanut butter spot, “The Return,” directed by Dave Meyers of production house RadicalMedia for Publicis Groupe agency PSOne, New York. Titled "The Return," the commercial tells the story of how Ludacris changed his legendary sound--thanks to a mouthful of Jif peanut butter, along with a little help from Atlanta’s new school hip hop artist, Gunna. The new vibe/flow to the hip hop rendition from Ludacris is a crowd pleaser, translating into a... Read More 

Popular Irish indie rock band The Academic and BBDO New York have pulled off an innovative musical event to help launch the band’s latest extended play record. On July 15, the Academic hosted the world’s first live animation music video via Google Slides, creating an interactive audio and visual experience for fans. Three exclusive performances featured the new single, “Not Your Summer.” Now, to share the experience further, The Academic has rolled out this music video (an edited screen capture... Read More 

VanMoof, a leading European brand known for electric bikes (e-bikes), rolled out this highly cinematic commercial from its in-house creative team and directed by Paul Geusebroek of Amsterdam-based production company HALAL. The campaign looks to inspire people in cities to keep moving forward instead of reverting to old and destructive pre-pandemic mobility habits. The film opens on an all-too-familiar scene: the chaos of a city center in gridlock. And as sweaty commuters climb back into their... Read More 

Motion design studio BIEN has produced an animation piece that highlights both the athletic prowess of the Paralympians and the thrill of watching them perform. The Tokyo Paralympics begin on August 24. The event is close to the heart of BIEN, akin to its mission of championing inclusivity when working with Fortune 100 companies. The animation promo is part of the studio’s “Make it BIEN” internal project series. When the project came to fruition, the creators decided to pitch it to the... Read More 

To celebrate the launch of Booking.com’s new #TravelProud initiative, RSA Films and director Clara Tägtström worked with the company on a series of films, released during Pride Week in Amsterdam. The multi-film Travel Proud campaign underscores the importance of understanding LGBTQ+ travelers’ needs in order to provide an inclusive stay for everyone, with dedicated Rainbow Suitcase badges for Proud Certified properties showing that Booking.com filters places, not people. The production cast... Read More 

New York City actors, singers, choreographers, musicians, television, and late-night hosts have come together for this video rendition of Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind” to encourage the city’s recovery from the pandemic. The effort was conceived of and produced by NYCNext, a passionate group of New Yorkers from all disciplines and industries who have joined together to help inspire New Yorkers, with a particular focus on the arts community. The “New York State of Mind” video features an... Read More 

To continue increasing confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines, specifically in communities disproportionately affected by the virus, the Ad Council and COVID Collaborative rolled out this PSA featuring Pope Francis and six Cardinals and Archbishops from North, Central and South America. Representing the first ever Ad Council campaign designed for and distributed to a global audience, messaging in the video is delivered in English, Spanish and Portuguese to reach communities worldwide, reminding... Read More 

Extra time spent locked down at home inspired nearly half (49%) of Americans to welcome a new dog into their families. Nearly 80% of dog owners are now concerned about their pet’s separation anxiety once they go back to work or travel. But with Rover, helicopter pet parents can trust that their pets will be well taken care of by a loving sitter, because sitters on Rover actually encourage customers to get specific with their care instructions. Seattle-based ad agency Little Hands of Stone thus... Read More 

Directors J.J. Sedelmaier (J.J. Sedelmaier Productions, Inc., White Plains, NY) and Mike G (BODEGA Studios, bicoastal) recently collaborated to seamlessly bring together their animated and live characters, respectively, in the “Be Your Strongest Self” campaign from agency Planet Propaganda for client J-B Weld, which is known for DIY epoxy and adhesives. The campaign, which launches on Labor Day, profiles four of J-B Weld’s top products: J-B Weld Original Epoxy, Super-Weld Light Activated,... Read More 

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