HUGE, FCBX and Table Read My Screenplay

HUGE is coming to Chicago

Chicago gets HUGE

IPG digital agency Huge is opening in Chicago after picking up global digital user experience work from McDonald’s.

According to a spokeswoman, Huge will handle the strategy and design of McDonald’s digital interfaces and the digitally enabled interaction between McDonald’s and its customers.

Although the work was pitched out of Huge’s headquarters in Brooklyn, there will be a dedicated Chicago office set up that will share resoures with Huge’s global team.

Currently, the agency is setting up digs in The Hancock Building while they assess what will work best for the team in the future. Stay tuned to Reel Chicago as we learn more about the agency and welcome to the Windy City, Huge!

 

DeNapoli to head FCBX

FCB Chicago announced that it is bringing aboard Kim DeNapoli as Executive Vice President and head of its experiential practice, FCBX.

Kim DeNapoli

In her new role, DeNapoli will overseeing the practice and its collaborative efforts with other teams, including creative, digital and social, while reporting directly to FCB Chicago president and CEO Michael Fassnacht.

An excited DeNapoli had this to say in a statement, “FCB Chicago has a great list of clients, produces exciting creative work and continues to see incredible growth, so I am thrilled to join the team and lead FCBX.” “It’s the perfect time, with the continued importance of social and digital, to develop integrated experiences that tell a seamless, authentic brand story.”

Added Fassnacht, “Kim is an amazing, knowledgeable leader with a deep understanding of how consumer activation, creative and digital channels effectively work together.”

DeNapoli joins FCB from Ogilvy & Mather, where she served as department lead and executive producer of experiential and content development. Prior to Ogilvy, DeNapoli did stints at Geometry Global and GMR Marketing and over the course of her career has worked with clients including Mondelez, Unilver, IBM, American Airlines and SC Johnson.

 

Chicagoan Julie Pedersen wins Table Read My Screenplay

Table Read My Screenplay, a competition hosted by LA-based International Screenwriter Association, announced their Chicago grand prize winners for feature/pilot and short. Julie Pedersen’s Boulevard took feature / pilot, and a Molly Gardner-penned short, In Case of Emergency won as well.

Julie Pedersen

Pedersen — who also had scripts place on the Nicholl list, was a semifinalist at Austin and was a Tracking Board mentee — was understandably thrilled about her win.

“Winning the Table Read My Screenplay competition and the ISA Chicago screenwriter award — right here in my home town of Chicago makes it feel like the doors and window are opening now,” she says. “It’s easy to get discouraged, coming so close before, and the odds and obstacles can be intimidating, but I know that you can’t succeed if you don’t stay in the race so I promised myself I would never give up. I’m lucky, because I love to, and actually need to, write screenplays.”

Boulevard is a drama about gun violence in Chicago and the nation. After her 12 year-old musical prodigy son is killed in a drive by shooting in Chicago, his grieving mother’s failed attempt to sue the city launches her into the national spotlight as she wages her own war against violence.

Gardner’s short is a comedy that looks at what happens when a superhero takes a vacation and his anxious mother attempts to fill in for him in their overly reliant town.

The read will take place on October 21 with a venue yet to be named. Stay tuned to Reel Chicago for venue and more updates. A full list of winners, finalists and semifinalists can be found here.

Follow Colin at colin@reelchicago.com or on Twitter @colincostello10.