KesselsKramer (KK), the independent communications agency and original content studio with offices in Amsterdam and London, charges into a new era by opening an outpost in LA’s Chinatown. The newest iteration of KK will combine the strategic and creative know-how of its Head Creative David Bell and Managing Director Engin Celikbas with the digital and content expertise of new partners David Charles, Eric Barrett and Robert Fagan.

“This is the perfect confluence of two worlds,” stated KK CCO Bell. “We are taking the strategic and creative heritage of KK and adding a whole new dimension with the content and digital expertise of David, Eric and Robert. Most digital and content companies are great at delivering creative, but they lack the strategic thinking – what we’ve formed here is a company that can handle the entire package. This union will help us work in an agile and nimble way to build new brand communities unlike anything our clients have ever experienced.”

The LA-based Charles, Barrett and Fagan will act as full partners and run KK Los Angeles behind the agency’s long-established KK ethos of creating meaningful, community-based work and the KK process that treats every assignment as a start-up, reshaping consumer mindsets and making brands famous. With creative strategy and creative leadership combined with creative production, KK will quickly produce high-quality content.

“Advertising is very good at borrowing from culture – we want to make advertising that contributes to culture and builds communities around it,” stated KK ECD David Charles. “To do that, we look to position ourselves with clients who aren’t afraid to push the boundaries of their brand and build a meaningful community of passionate consumers behind it.”

“I’ve always admired the way that KK forged daring communications for their brands by bringing that start-up mentality to every project,” noted Charles, who has worked out of California for several years and will act as KK’s ECD and partner in LA. “Their philosophy and approach to advertising combined with our expertise in the interactive, original, and branded content spaces are the perfect fusion of talent. Together we can make the kind of progressive, meaningful work that’s not compared with other advertising, but with other entertainment properties.”

The agency’s newest outpost will offer services that include:

• Integrated Advertising: KK’s recent campaigns include powerful brand stories for Red Stripe, Metro, Bushmills, Greenpeace, CitizenM Hotels, I Amsterdam and J&B.
• Original Branded Content: KK invests deep strategic thought to develop cross-media storytelling for each client. The studio’s latest work includes an integrated campaign that utilizes live TV, social media and real audience interactivity for MTV and documentaries about soccer, surfing, art and music.
• Curation and Publishing: The LA office, like the London outfit, will double as KK Gallery, a sought-after space for exhibitions and exclusive retail collaborations, drawing culture seekers, design product buyers and press with events such as the recent shop swap with French brand Colette. KK also publishes photography, communication and arts books and co-organizes the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival, the largest action sports film festival in the world.

KK Los Angeles opens after a highly productive planning process that locked in a list of launch accounts that includes a global campaign for a leading Spirits company, Ubisoft’s highly anticipated Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist, and the Museum of Contemporary Art’s MOCAtv, the first dedicated contemporary art channel to be part of YouTube original channels. “We wanted to ensure that we hit the ground running,” stated Celikbas, KK Amsterdam’s Managing Director. “These accounts not only help us to immediately show our abilities to the U.S. market, but they showcase the seamless collaboration among our offices.”

About Eric Barrett, President and Partner:

Eric is founder/EP of Mirror Films and the X-Dance Action Sports Film Festival. His reel includes commercials and music videos for Nike, Ford, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, Target, NFL, MLB, Disney, Mercedes, AXE, Quiksilver, Paul McCartney, U2, Madonna, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dave Matthews Band, which earned him a Grammy nomination. His work with Rock the Vote earned a Peabody Award.

About David Charles, Creative Director and Partner:

David was a Creative Director/Writer at Digital Agency of the Year AKQA and hot shop 72andSunny in LA. He’s created award-winning campaigns, interactive experiences and branded content for global clients such as Nike, Xbox, Sprite, Visa, Gap, Mini, LucasArts, and many others. His accolades include awards at Cannes, One Show, New York Festivals and Archive.

About Robert Fagan, Head of Integrated Production and Partner:

Robert is founding member of 42 Entertainment, where he’s produced work at the forefront of transmedia and digital storytelling. He’s won back-to-back Cannes GPs with Year Zero for Nine Inch Nails and The Dark Knight. His game-mechanics expertise in building communities has led him into the world of social programming, where he is currently developing television properties for FUSE, MTV and others.

About Dave Bell, Creative Director and Partner, KK International:

Dave helped KK grow from a start-up into the world-renowned communications agency it is today. He’s behind campaigns for Absolut, Diesel, 55DSL, Hans Brinker, CitizenM hotels, Nike, Red Stripe and Greenpeace. Dave Bell is a lecturer at School of Communication Arts and has been involved in numerous talks from Hong Kong Business Design Week to Young Guns Australia.

About Engin Celikbas, Managing Director and Partner, KK International:

Engin joined KK International as Managing Director (and partner) in 1998. His efforts were central to creating the financial and organizational structure that allowed the shop to produce work in a broad range of cultural and commercial fields – and for global clients such as Heineken, T-Mobile and Diageo (J&B among others). This work has helped them become one of the most respected independent agencies in the world.

ABOUT KK LOS ANGELES:

Established in 1996, KK is an independent, communications agency in Amsterdam, London and now Los Angeles with 70 people of 10 different nationalities.

KK Los Angeles is a vertically integrated communications agency that brings brands and communities together by creating meaningful experiences in every media imagined. With sister offices in Amsterdam and London, the KK group can act as a start-up, but with a global presence.

City of Buenos Aires, November 2012.- McCann Buenos Aires has announced that Enrico Campochiaro has been promoted to Chief Growth Officer of McCann Buenos Aires, and thus becomes responsible for the integration and growth of all the group’s work units.

“This new position is an excellent and very exciting challenge. The aim is to bring a comprehensive vision to the business. And most importantly to provide communications solutions which will help strengthen our clients’ businesses,” remarks Campochiaro.

The executive joined McCann Buenos Aires in 2008 as Head of Planning. Prior to that he had been Group Account Director for Y&R and a member of the Operations Committee of the agency, where he began his career as a trainee in 1995.

He has worked for brands such as Quilmes, Repsol YPF, General Motors, MasterCard, Nestlé, L’Oreal, Microsoft and Movistar, an account for which he was also Director for Latin America. Throughout his career, he has taken part in projects that have won awards at the most prestigious advertising festivals, such as the Effie, Cannes, New York, London, Clio, FIAP, Platinum Pencil and the Martín Fierro, besides being a jury member for several of them.

Acerca de McCann - http://www.mccann.com.ar/

McCann is one of the largest advertising agencies in the world, with operations in over 120 countries.

Based in New York, the agency is a unit of the McCann World Group, the leading global network in communication and marketing solutions, comprising those agencies that stress innovation, creativity and performance.

In Argentina, McCann Buenos Aires works for important clients such as General Motors, MasterCard, L´Oréal, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Bimbo, Google, American Airlines and British American Tobacco.

• A deal to buy the business is in place and the process is thought to be at the due diligence stage.

LOS ANGELES, Nov 15, 2012 – The DNA Foundation today announced a new name and refined mission for its organization. DNA will now be known as THORN: Digital Defenders of Children. The foundation will focus on the role technology plays in crimes involving the sexual exploitation of children - including the buying and selling of children for sex around the world, soliciting sex with children, and the proliferation of child pornography across the Internet. THORN's goal is clear - to disrupt and deflate predatory behavior in the fight to end child sexual exploitation.

“For the past three years we have focused our work broadly on combating child sex trafficking. It has become crystal clear in our efforts that technology plays an increasingly large role in this crime and in the sexual exploitation of children overall,” said Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher, Co-Founders, THORN. “We believe that the technology-driven aspect of these crimes demands its own attention and investment.”

The statistics are staggering. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), reports that the number of child pornography files reported for victim identification has exploded from 450,000 digital images and videos in 2004 to over 17 million in 2011. THORN is working to make the Internet a more hostile environment for those who seek to exploit children.

According to Sergeant Byron Fassett, Dallas Police Department, “We are increasingly rescuing child sex trafficking victims who are either recruited through online channels or bought and sold over the Internet. THORN is addressing a real need within the area of child exploitation.”

THORN's work focuses primarily on four areas: research, deterrence, innovation and industry initiatives. The foundation will continue to work closely with law enforcement, other NGOs, the private sector and its own “Technology Task Force” to create tools, policies and programs that will work to bring an end to these illicit activities and protect children.

THORN Technology Task Force We know that predators now use technology to exploit children, so THORN is determined to turn the tables and use technology to protect children and deter predators. To do that, the foundation has created the THORN Technology Task Force – a group of more than 25 tech companies that collaborate on technological initiatives to fight child sexual exploitation. Companies include Microsoft, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Symantec, SV Angel, Blekko, BlueCava, Connotate, Conversion Voodoo, DataXu, Hang, Irdeto, Mozilla, SalesForce Foundation, Digital Reasoning, Palantir and others.

“THORN works tirelessly to develop technological solutions to end child sexual exploitation,” said Joe Sullivan, Facebook Chief Security Officer. “Facebook is proud to partner with THORN and the entire Tech Task Force to end the exploitation of children. Developing innovative and robust solutions to keep children safe is critical.”

THORN has also partnered with San Francisco advertising agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners – on a pro bono basis – for brand consulting, strategy, research and creative development.

For more information on THORN, please visit www.wearethorn.org, follow us on Twitter @THORN and Facebook.com/WeAreThorn

BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel’s short documentary film Blood Relations that tells the story of Ben and Seham, a bereaved Israeli father and Palestinian sister from the Israeli/Palestinian Parents Circle-Families Forum and their journey to donate blood to save lives on the other side, screened in the Other Israel Film Festival in New York yesterday.

Members of the public were able to donate blood in support of the ‘Blood Relations’ project the film tells the story of, at a mobile blood donation bus that was on site outside the JCC Manhattan. The blood drive that attracted hundreds of participants and provided a much-needed boost to the city’s blood supplies after many of New York’s blood donation clinics were closed by superstorm ‘Sandy’.

The short film ran as an introduction to the full-length documentary One Day After Peace, featuring the story of Robi Damelin, also a member of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, and one of the original participants in the ‘Blood Relations’ initiative. The award-winning film, directed by Erez and Miri Laufer, follows Damelin as she tries to contact her son’s killer. When he refuses, she returns to her country of birth, South Africa, to examine how they achieved reconciliation after decades of conflict. Damelin and journalist Gideon Levy spoke and addressed questions after the screening.

The Other Israel Film Festival is taking place in New York City from November 8-15, featuring New York premieres of internationally acclaimed, award-winning films by and about Arab and minority populations living in Israel. The Other Israel Film Festival is the foremost U.S. presenter of new cinematic works that bring into focus the most talked about and controversial topics concerning Israeli society today. In addition to the screening of One Day After Peace on Sunday, it was also screen on Tuesday, Nov. 13 at 7:00 PM at CinemaVillage. For full program information, visit OtherIsrael.org

Yossi Lubaton, CEO of BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel said: “We are very proud to have our film shown in the Other Israel Film Festival. We hope this film will make people think differently about what it means to be a ‘Blood Relation’ and that the people who see it will not only share in our hope that things will get better, but that they will be inspired to share their blood and donate in support of that hope. It has been an honour to work with such an amazing organisation as the Parents Circle and the Peres Centre for Peace and we thank them for giving us the opportunity to make the film that documents their incredible story.”

Isaac Zablocki, a programmer of the Other Israel Film Festival, adds, “The Other Israel Film Festival is proud to create a platform of dialogue and inclusivity as demonstrated through the arts. And now, we extend this platform to include a much needed blood drive. This drive will serve the New York public at times of need, and also serve as a symbol equality and peace.”

The donations in New York on Sunday mark the latest in a series of blood donation events that have been taking place across the world as part of the ‘Blood Relations’ initiative. The project began in September 2011 when Israeli and Palestinian members of the Parents Circle – Families Forum, came together to donate blood to each other that was then shared to save lives on the opposite side.

‘Blood Relations’ was borne out of a global challenge ‘The Impossible Brief', launched by BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Israel at the 2010 Cannes Advertising Festival where creative minds from all over the world were invited to present ideas that would bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together. Visit www.bloodrelations.org for more information.

Contact:

Isobel Kerr-Newell

Communications Director
Saatchi & Saatchi EMEA

Tel: +44 7947 375 103
isobel.kerr-newell@europe.saatchi.com

Festival Media Contact:

Julia Pacetti

President
JMP Verdant Communications

Tel: +917 584 7856
julia@jmpverdant.com

About The Parents Circle Families Forum

The Parents Circle Families Forum (PCFF) consists of more than 600 bereaved families, half Palestinian and half Israeli. It has played a crucial role since its inception in 1995, in spearheading a reconciliation process between Israelis and Palestinians. The Forum members have all lost immediate family members due to the violence in the region.

The PCFF is a not-for-profit organization that operates from two offices, the Israeli office located in Ramat Ef'al (suburb of Tel Aviv) and the Palestinian office in A-Ram (north of Jerusalem). The organization is operated and backed up by a large body of volunteers from the bereaved families as trained and experienced lecturers, facilitators and activists. The Forum is supported by a network of friend organizations in the United States, Britain, Germany and Israel.

Their work is well known within international political circles. President Barack Obama publicly acknowledged them as an example of the desire for reconciliation in the region in his 19 May 2011 address on the Middle East. Their work has also been recognised by President Bill Clinton, President Carter and Desmond M. Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus and has received numerous awards including the Gandhi Foundation International Peace Award in 2010.
http://www.theparentscircle.com/

About the Other Israel Film Festival

The 6th Annual Other Israel Film Festival will take place in New York City from November 8-15, featuring New York premieres of internationally acclaimed, award-winning films by and about Arab and minority populations living in Israel. The Other Israel Film Festival is the foremost U.S. presenter of new cinematic works that bring into focus the most talked about and controversial topics concerning Israeli society today. The Festival takes understanding beyond the finite viewing experience by offering world-class speakers and conversations in the SpeakEasy Café following each screening. The Other Israel Film Festival was founded by Carole Zabar in 2007, with the mission of giving an international voice to minority groups in Israel through cinema.

Films will screen at the JCC in Manhattan, 334 Amsterdam Ave, and the Cinema Village, 22 E. 12th St., in New York. This year, the festival will offer nationwide access to select films and conversations on its streaming site: OtherIsraelOnDemand.org