LOS ANGELES -- If you turn down the noise, you can hear yourself think and perhaps even better, listen to what’s around you. That’s a prime dynamic which has come into play for A Quiet Place (Paramount Pictures) starring Emily Blunt and John Krasinski who also serves as the film’s director, co-writer and an executive producer. Set in a post-apocalyptic, not-too-distant future, A Quiet Place is where mysterious creatures hunt people based on the slightest of sounds. Krasinski and Blunt portray a couple having... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Asia Argento said he raped her during the Cannes Film Festival. Mira Sorvino said he chased her around a hotel room at the Toronto International Film Festival. Rose McGowan's encounter happened at the Sundance Film Festival. Just as Harvey Weinstein did at the Oscars, the disgraced movie mogul lorded over the festival world, which provided the glitzy, champagne-flowing setting for many of his alleged crimes. And in the aftermath of Hollywood's sexual harassment scandals, film festivals have... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The 17th annual Tribeca Film Festival opened Wednesday with pugnacious political words from Robert De Niro and the tender opening-night premiere, "Love, Gilda," an intimate celebration of the beloved comedian and former "Saturday Night Live" star Gilda Radner. Lisa D'Apolito's documentary opened the New York festival in a star-studded screening at New York's Beacon Theatre that drew generations of "SNL" cast members, including original member Laraine Newman and Tina Fey, who poignantly... Read More, Comment

ATHENS, Ga. -- The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors revealed nine Entertainment winners, including Children’s & Youth, for programs released in 2017. Honorees include a dystopian look at the United States, a 1950s female comedian who runs afoul of decency laws, innovative reflections on diversity from up-and-coming voices, and satirical television at its finest. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Among the honorees are "The... Read More, Comment

LONDON (AP) -- Martin Sorrell is stepping down as chief executive of WPP, the world's largest advertising agency company, following allegations of personal misconduct. Sorrell, who built WPP into a global brand during his 33 years at the helm, had been accused of misusing company assets. He has denied any wrongdoing. Sorrell resigned Saturday night as WPP announced that an investigation into the matter had concluded, with the firm saying only that "the allegation did not involve amounts that are material." "... Read More, Comment

BENGALURU, India, and SEATTLE -- Infosys (NYSE: INFY), known for its global consulting, technology and next-generation services, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire WONGDOODY, a US-based, full-service creative and consumer insights agency. The move strengthens Infosys’ creative, branding and customer experience capabilities, and demonstrates its continued commitment to bringing innovative thinking, talent and creativity to clients around the world. WONGDOODY, an award-winning creative agency with studios in... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (June 18-22) has released details of the 2018 Festival schedule. “This year’s Festival features more brands than ever before, and there are many thought provoking topics that will be discussed,” commented Jose Papa, managing director, Cannes Lions. “This is a year where the roles, responsibilities, and even the identity of the creative industry is changing. Legends like David Droga and Jeff Goodby will be joined by first-time speakers from... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) have launched the CMO Growth Council in partnership with the ANA’s CMO Masters Circle. The CMO Growth Council will initially be comprised of 20 CMOs from some of the world’s biggest global brands. Chaired by Marc Pritchard, chief brand officer for the world’s biggest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, and chairman of the ANA, the CMO Growth Council will represent the collective agenda and... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Integrated production studio The Collective @ LAIR has signed NYC-based director Krista Liney for commercials, branded content and direct-to-client fare worldwide. She continues to serve as SVP of brand creative at A&E Networks while spreading her directorial wings via The Collective @ LAIR with her first career commercial representation. Liney’s directing credits range from promos for the History Channel series Vikings to Tyga and Justin Bieber’s “Wait a Minute” music video, which has... Read More, Comment

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. -- Backyard has signed director Stuart Douglas for U.S. commercial representation. He brings to the Marina del Rey-based production company a stylized approach which fuses impressionistic portrait photography with intimate storytelling and can be seen in projects for Ford, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Guinness, Nike, Sony, Land Rover, Saab, Volvo, Sainsbury’s, BBC and Jeep, among many others. His work for Carlsberg, Guinness and Pepsi went on to receive industry recognition at such competitions as the Cannes... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Director Niall O’Brien has joined Furlined for U.S. commercial representation. His ad credits span such brands as Nike, Adidas and Canon, as well as agencies including Droga5 and AMV BBDO. Dublin-born, L.A.-based director and photographer O’Brien studied fine art photography at Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, where he developed his naturalistic, voyeuristic approach to imagery, and subsequently documentary films. He has exhibited his images across the globe and has many... Read More, Comment

DETROIT -- Marketing communications agency Campbell Ewald has promoted Laura Rogers to executive creative director. Previously group creative director, Rogers will continue to oversee creative for OnStar, Cadillac Magazine and Chevrolet New Roads Magazine, plus content specific programs for clients including Valero and Meritage Homes. She will report directly to Jo Shoesmith, chief creative officer. “With 25-plus years of content development, CRM and digital media experience, Laura has been a pioneer in... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Cavalry Productions has signed Kiran (a.k.a. Kiran Koshy) who last year earned inclusion into SHOOT ’s New Directors Showcase on the strength of his humorous Organic Doggie Treats’ “Unsullied” commercial which he helmed while a creative director at Innocean Worldwide in Huntington Beach, Calif. Kiran’s in-house directorial endeavors at the agency--including comedy fare for Atomic Candy--have won him such honors as a Bronze Clio, a Gold National Addy, multiple Epicas, and a pair of London... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Rachelle Madden, VP, post production and digital production affairs for AICP, has announced the shortlist for this year’s AICE Awards for postproduction excellence. This marks the first time the Awards, now in its 17th year and its first year under the auspices of AICP, has adopted a shortlist format for its category finalists. The winners will be announced at a gala ceremony in Culver City, Calif., on the evening of May 10. The 2018 AICE Awards accepted entries in 18 categories, which honor... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- If you want to tailor a Facebook ad to a single user out of its universe of 2.2 billion, you could. Trying to pitch your boutique bed and breakfast to a 44-year-old "trendy mom" who lives in Seattle, leans conservative and is currently traveling in the Toronto area but hasn't booked a hotel for the night yet? Go right ahead. Interested in mail-ordering pet treats to a 32-year-old cat owner in Madison, Wisconsin who enjoys Japanese food, doesn't like pizza and has an anniversary coming up in the... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- The Tribeca Film Festival has set the members of 10 juries, reflecting the tone and texture of the annual cultural showcase, which celebrates storytelling in film, television, virtual reality, music and games. The jurors will be tasked with honoring the new works of emerging and established members of the creative community with unique art awards and cash prizes as they present their works at the annual Festival. Mirroring the breadth of Tribeca’s programming, the team of jurors include... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Old "Scarface" friends said hello again at a 35th anniversary screening Thursday that reunited stars Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer and Steven Bauer and filmmaker Brian De Palma for an evening full of reflection on how the ferocious and garish gangster epic — like Tony Montana's rise from dishwasher to drug lord — has grown in stature. The reunion, held at New York's Beacon Theatre, was one of the main events of the just kicked-off Tribeca Film Festival. The festival has made such anniversaries a... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Seven years after being banned by the Cannes Film Festival for jokingly calling himself a Nazi, Danish director Lars von Trier has been invited back to the French festival. Von Trier was declared "persona non grata" by Cannes after expressing sympathy for Adolf Hitler in a 2011 press conference for his film "Melancholia." But Cannes on Thursday announced that von Trier's "The House That Jack Built" will play out of competition at next month's festival. The film stars Matt Dillon as a serial... Read More, Comment

TORONTO -- Cameron Bailey has been named to the newly created position of artistic director and co-head of the Toronto International Film Festival. He will assume this role and report directly to TIFF’s board of directors effective October 1, 2018. Bailey’s new role is a promotion and expansion of his current position as artistic director, which he has held since 2012. Prior to that, Bailey served as Festival co-director from 2008-2012. Since CEO Piers Handling’s announcement last July that the 2018... Read More, Comment

WARREN, Conn. (AP) -- Czech filmmaker Milos Forman, whose American movies "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus" won a deluge of Academy Awards, including best director Oscars, died Saturday. He was 86. Forman died about 2 a.m. Saturday at Danbury Hospital, near his home in Warren, Connecticut, according to a statement released by the former director's agent, Dennis Aspland. Aspland said Forman's wife, Martina, notified him of the death. When Forman arrived in Hollywood in the late 1960s, he was lacking in... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- New York's "Fearless Girl" statue that has become a global symbol of female business prowess will be moved from her spot staring down Wall Street's bronze "Charging Bull" to a new home facing the New York Stock Exchange. And the bull, a longtime fixture and tourist attraction at the foot of Broadway, may wind up following in her footsteps. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that "Fearless Girl," a sculpture by Kristen Visbal of a girl with her hands on her hips and chin pointed up, will be... Read More, Comment

DETROIT -- Creative editorial and post boutique Hiatus has been launched in Detroit by founder/sr. editor Shane Patrick Ford. The new venture is headed by a leadership team of executive producer/partner Catherine Pink and EP Joshua Magee. Other key talent at Hiatus includes editor Josh Beebe, composer/editor David Chapdelaine and animator James Naugle. The roots of Hiatus began with The Factory, an off-the-grid music venue founded by Ford while he was still in college. Providing a venue for local Detroit... Read More, Comment

If you've ever walked into a store and were embarrassed to tell the salesperson your real size, or entered the gym locker room and wanted to hide, you're part of the target audience for Amy Schumer's "I Feel Pretty." Whatever age or gender you happen to be. Self-esteem issues related to body image are, without doubt, a social epidemic — a painful and dangerous one, for many girls and young women. And there's nothing controversial about that message, though judging by some of the heated online... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After a wobbly start, Dwayne Johnson muscled his way to a No. 1 opening for "Rampage" — but just barely. Close on its heels was the word-of-mouth sensation "A Quiet Place" in its second week in theaters, and not too far behind that was the Blumhouse horror "Truth or Dare" in a competitive weekend at the box office. Warner Bros. said Sunday that "Rampage" earned an estimated $34.5 million in its first weekend in North American theaters, and dominated internationally too with $114.1 million from... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- As the rebooted “Roseanne” continues to dominate the television landscape, research indicates that enthusiasm expressed for the show’s initial success by President Donald Trump and Fox News Channel had an impact on its audience. Both Trump and Fox commentators said the show’s initial stunning success was a reflection of the show’s lead character, played by Roseanne Barr, portraying a Trump supporter. The research organization Samba TV said viewership among people who also watched Fox News... Read More, Comment

NHSBT Give Blood, an entity within the U.K.’s Department of Health, needs nearly 700 new donors every day to cover the country’s blood requirements. To raise awareness of the need for blood donors, NHSBT Give Blood worked with director Tom Beard of PRETTYBIRD and London agency Pablo on this TV commercial titled “Whistle” with a voiceover by Academy Award-winning actor (Iris) Jim Broadbent, and featuring past blood donation recipients and current blood donors. The spot uses the metaphor of a... Read More, Comment

Celebrating 50 years of KFC, “Bucket” is a charming, nostalgia-tinged look into Australian life in the 1960s and how KFC redefined “dinnertime”. Directed by David Denneen of Filmgraphics Entertainment for Ogilvy in Australia, “Bucket” takes the audience down memory lane back to April 1968. Opening on a dreary dining room, a young boy and his conservative aunt are about to embark on an unappetizing meal. Just before their first bite, his older brother arrives with a huge bucket of tantalizing... Read More, Comment

This June will mark three years since the landmark case declaring marriage legal for same-sex couples in all 50 states. But LGBT Americans are facing increased discrimination. In the last year, 55% of people reported being discriminated against because of their gender identity or sexual orientation (an +11 point increase from the previous year), while about 80% of Americans mistakenly believe it’s illegal under federal law to fire, evict or refuse service to someone because they are LGBT. The... Read More, Comment

McCann NY created this campaign designed to drive weekday business to MGM National Harbor, the casino and resort in Washington DC. While Friday night is regarded as a great night to enjoy a casino, what about the other weekdays? To consider those possibilities on Monday through Thursday, McCann teamed with director Jim Jenkins of O Positive to personify each of those days in different spots, including this one in which a guy who’s Monday bemoans all the fun folks are having on his night at MGM... Read More, Comment

Derek Cianfrance of RadicalMedia directed this “Never stop. Never settle.” story of Marshall Major Taylor, the fastest man on two wheels for Hennessy out of agency Droga5 New York. At a time when an African American world champion of cycling was unheard of, Major Taylor was it. Hennessy’s new creative celebrates his perseverance through adversity and his rise to the top. The films depict Taylor as the greatest athlete of his day, a dominant champion whose search for rivalry pushed him deeper... Read More, Comment

Spectrum’s "Monsters" campaign created by agency Something Different continues with a couple of spots directed by David Shane of O Positive, including this piece titled “Gamer” which features the Vampire family coping with the horrors of bandwidth troubles and slow Internet from the phone company. Mr. Vampire sidesteps Mrs. Vampire’s wishes to stop gaming night so she can go online and work. But if he stops the kids from gaming, he fears losing his title of “cool Dad.” Read More, Comment

Did you know that 50% of Canadians hardly know their neighbors? Tim Horton’s, one of North America’s largest restaurant chains, wanted to do something about that. Its agency, Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto, created a grass-roots initiative bringing neighbors together over coffee. Sean McBride directed this video via production house Zulubot. Read More, Comment