Ahh, so this is the “good news” we’ve been hearing about. Nearly three months after joining JWT’s New York hub as co-CCO’s, Ryan Kutscher and Matt MacDonald have made their first notable hire in Ben James, who spent three years at CAA, previously worked with Kutscher and JWT North America CCO Jeff Benjamin at CP+B, and actually went to college with MacDonald. From what we’ve been told, he’s been freelancing for the WPP agency for the last few months.
In a statement regarding James, who has also worked at the likes of Goodby and Y&R Chicago, MacDonald says, “There are great creatives. And then there are great people. Very rarely do those two things come in one package. Ben is one of the best talents in the industry, and I’ve been trying to work with him ever since we met in a portfolio class at the University of Texas. We’re thrilled that he’s coming aboard to invent the future of JWT.”
After the jump, you can check out Kutscher and MacDonald’s memo to staff.
From: Ryan Kutscher & Matt MacDonald
Reply-To: Ryan Kutscher, Matt MacDonald
Date: Wed, 8 Aug 2012 14:14:24 -0400
Subject: Welcome Ben James
We have some creative department news to report. But it probably won’t come as news to anyone who has been hanging around the second floor.Ben James, who has been freelancing for a while now, is officially joining us as an Executive Creative Director.
We like Ben, not just because he’s a great guy with great hair, but because he has worked in both the advertising and the entertainment industries. Ben started out at Crispin working on Burger King, MINI, Slim Jim and IKEA. From there he went on to CAA (Creative Artists Agency), creating great things for clients like Bing, Diageo, Gap, Mitchum and Virgin. You can see some of his best work here:
http://cargocollective.com/acreativecalledben
Ben’s work has been recognized by our industry—Cannes, The One Show, D&AD, the ANDYs. But he’s also received accolades that regular people have heard of, including recognition from the MTV VMAs and the Sundance Film Festival.
Most importantly, Ben has already contributed to the creative transformation of JWT New York. He just shot an exciting new Macy’s campaign for fall, and is currently in Prague shooting new work for Smirnoff.
Let’s give him a big welcome when he returns next week.
-Ryan and Matt