R/GA RAMPED UP its 4-year old Chicago digital agency with the appointment of MDavid Low (not a typo, that’s his real name) as executive creative director. He moves here from San Francisco-based consultancy Nurun, where was associate technical director and team lead. Before that, Low, who is from the West Coast, was chief creative technologist at Eleven, Inc., also in SF.
Lowe will report to VP/managing director Jeff Brecker and work closely with Ken Erke, VP/executive director of copywriting tech/design.
Brecker describes Low, who has worked with rock bands in addition to brands and counts motorcycle repair among his hobbies, as “both a thinker and a maker – someone who doesn’t just understand design needs, but also the technology and production levers to develop and implement solutions for our clients.”
NEW YORK-BASED TRANSLATIONS, an agency partnership between Steve Stoute and Jay-Z, and will close its Chicago office at 10 W. Hubbard “to bring together our team in New York,” Stoute wrote to local employees.
IRONICALLY, Chicago-headquartered Groupon (they have a fantastic office at 600 W. Chicago) went to a Colorado agency and an LA production company to produce its first commercial since its 2011 Super Bowl spot.
Groupon’s creatives worked with Boulder, Colo.-based Victors & Spoils and LA’s Sandwich Video to produce a spot that will run in six markets, but not Chicago. See the spot here.
EDITOR SUE LAWSON of ChicagoEdit, ChiPUG president and now certified as a Women’s Business Enterprise, will be at NAB in Las Vegas next week where she will host interviews with vendors about the most exciting new equipment advances that will be posted on www.YouTube.com/bsvpTV.
Lawson is wrapping post on an hourlong doc, “Breaking Free from the Life of Sex Trafficking & Prostitution: Stories from Survivors,” for Minneapolis-based Videon Productions|Pix Mix Studios. Next up is editing a feature for a Houston producer.
TONIGHT, MAYOR RAHM EMANUEL will speak at the Opening Ceremony of the 30th Chicago Latino Film Festival, 6:30 p.m., at AMC River East theatre. Doors open at 6 p.m. Reception follows the screening of an Argentina film at the Embassy Suites Hotel, 511 N. Columbus Drive. Call 312/431-1330 for tickets.
THIS WEEKEND, April 4-5 the 9th annual Chicago Festival of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Film takes place at Loyola’s Sullivan Hall, 6339 N. Sheridan, including a feature by Oscar-winning director Danis Tanovic and exhibition and talk by TEDx speaker, artist and photographer Harun Mehmediovic. All films are subtitled.
THE NAME GAME. Beast Editorial’s John Dingfield will receive two awards from next Thursday’s 50th CIFF Television Awards at the Radisson Blu Hotel: A Silver for Fiat and a Silver Plaque for Skittles candy … Energy BBDO on Monday will welcome new chief creative officer Mark Taylor, from CP&B Minneapolis. He succeeds Dan Fietsam who left the agency in February to return to New York …
New director on Radar’s roster is award-winning Kathleen Lorden, who has a decade of agency experience as an art director and an MFA from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena … Optimus signed editor Gordon Carey for Midwest and West Coast representation … Havas Worldwide CCO Jason Peterson is serving on the Executive Jury of the New York Festivals.
KEVIN SPACEY will be in Chicago May 3 with his doc, “Now: In the Wings on a World Stage” about his 200 performance world tour of “Richard III,” at Gene Siskel Film Center.
THE 676 N. LASALLE BUILDING is in the process of being sold. Over the past 40 years, it served as a true production hub that provided providing affordable offices, screening rooms, and equipment rental space for many a film biz company. Chances are it will be demolished and replaced with condos.
DURING BOB TEITEL’S recent visit here, the Chicago native and Columbia College grad said he would like to make more movies here. Namely: the return of the “Barber Shop” franchise that filmed in Chicago in 2002 and 2004. MGM is said to be aboard and so is Ice Cube, star of the previous two comedies. If greenlit, Cedric the Entertainer and Queen Latifah would reprise their roles.
Earlier movies of State Street Productions (Teitel’s company with director George Tillman, Jr.) that filmed here were “Beauty Shop” and “Roll Bounce” in 2005, and Reid Brody’s indie “Nothing Like the Holidays,” in 2008.
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