D&AD Next Awards 2017 / Next Director Award

Francine Linsey
Executive Head of Production – AMVBBDO
After living in France and studying French at Aix-en-Provence, Francine returned to London and spent her early career in photography. She joined Butler Dennis Garland as Production Assistant in 1984, progressing to become Head of TV at Slaymaker Cowley White in 1987.
Francine joined AMV as a Senior Producer in 1989 and produced some of the agency’s earliest iconic commercials, including; Dunlop (directed by Tony Kaye) and Walkers (directed by Paul Weiland). She was promoted to Head of TV in 1999 and has worked tirelessly to promote the training and development of production expertise both within the agency and the industry. In 2014, she was promoted to Executive Head of Production planning and implementing the agency’s step-change into the world of multi-channel production across TV, Film, Content and Art Production, whilst continuing to oversee some of the best loved, most successful and highly awarded televisual productions of the last decade.
Francine is Chairperson of the IPA’s ‘Production Policy Group’ and a Director of ‘British Arrows’.

Matthew Fone
Matthew was born in Coventry when he was aged 0. At the age of 7 he was forced to move at gunpoint to Walsall from where his pronounced middle class accent descended into a heavy rock monotony.
On a motorbike, jumping 10ft high barbed wire fencing , he finally escaped to University in London, attending King’s College where he read Geography. After 3 years he was forced to leave seeking employment but ending up sorting post in the vaults of BT.
His real life began when he got invited into the depths of the late Propaganda Films where he learnt the craft of production, which he still promotes to this day now in the form of a producer.
Matthew’s toils have involved award winning commercial work for clients such as Nike, Adidas, Orange, Olympus, JC Penney, Stella Artois, Diet Coke as well as music videos for the likes of The Streets, LCD Soundsystem, Bat for Lashes, Badly Drawn Boy, Basement Jaxx, Kings of Leon, oh and Madonna.
The highlight was producing the D&AD Black Pencil winning Cadbury’s Gorilla in 2008.
In 2010 Matthew decided to start his own production company Riff Raff Films, with the vision to find new creative talent and build them up the hard way to take on the world. Music Videos are integral to this ; money, ha that may come later.

Anna Higgs
Anna Higgs is an award-winning producer and creative executive who leads ground-breaking work at the intersection of film and digital storytelling. Anna has recently taken up the position of Creative Director at NOWNESS, a global video channel bringing together the best in culture, with the best of emerging and established filmmaking voices. A partnership between Dazed Media and the LVMH group, NOWNESS is a movement for creative excellence in storytelling celebrating the extraordinary of every day.
Prior to joining NOWNESS she was Head of Digital at Film4, spearheading innovation with projects including Ben Wheatley’s A Field in England, Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s 20,000 Days on Earth, Ken Loach’s The Spirit of ’45 and Lenny Abrahamson’s Frank. Other credits include High-Rise starring Tom Hiddleston, Sundance-winner Dark Horse and Peter Strickland’s The Duke of Burgundy.

henry hobson
For a young designer who cut his teeth under the likes of Ridley Scott, Gore Verbinski, Guy Richie and Rupert Sanders, it’s perhaps not surprising to see Henry Hobson so successfully apply that same visual acumen to the world of commercial directing. But that’s something that most people don’t know about Henry – how an acclaimed graphic design career and studied approach to visual storytelling informs everything he does.
Henry’s first feature film, Maggie, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin, premiered at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. Hobson was the Creative Director for the 87th Academy Awards. His title sequence work can be seen in films in TV shows spanning Sherlock Holmes to Snow White & The Huntsmen. His commercial credits this year include Apple, Gillette, Gears of War and more. He’s a creative polymath whose meteoric rise to the top ranks of commercial advertising over the past two years has been unprecedented.
His work earlier this year for Mobile Strike, a war-themed mobile game, features Arnold Schwarzenegger as an everyman in a suit who emerges from an elevator to find himself engaged in an all-out battle. Chosen as an Editor’s Pick by Creativity and covered in AdWeek, the spot not only ran during Super Bowl 50, but picked up over 100 million earned views online.
With Playstation, Henry worked with Venables Bell & Partners to create the much heralded sequel to the brand’s popular spot, Long Live Play. An Editor’s Pick on Creativity, You Won’t Believe What’s In Store tells the tale of a merchant who peddles “glorious pandemonium and a mastery over time and space.”
Evocative. Visceral. Cinematic. Henry Hobson helms challenging narratives that create profound emotional connections between the characters and audience by drawing on elements of mystery, social memory, and expertly-paced timing. This emotional intelligence, coupled with a fastidious visual approach, are what has catapulted Henry to the upper echelons of our industry. And this approach will be on display at Super Bowl 51 where he’ll debut one of his largest and most beautiful projects to date.
Henry Hobson is represented by Furlined in the US and UK.

Tom Hooper
Tom Hooper is a British film and television director. He began making short films as a teenager, and had his first professional short, Painted Faces, broadcast on Channel 4 in 1992. At Oxford University Hooper directed plays and television commercials. After graduating, he directed episodes of Quayside, Byker Grove, EastEnders and Cold Feet on British television.
In the 2000s, Hooper directed the major BBC costume dramas Love in a Cold Climate (2001) and Daniel Deronda (2002), and was selected to helm the 2003 revival of ITV's Prime Suspect series, starring Helen Mirren. Hooper made his feature film debut with Red Dust (2004), a British drama starring Hilary Swank and Chiwetel Ejiofor, before directing Helen Mirren again in the Company Pictures/HBO Films historical drama Elizabeth I (2005). He continued working for HBO on the television film Longford (2006) and in John Adams (2008), a seven-part serial on the life of the American president. Hooper returned to features with The Damned United (2009), a fact-based film about the English football manager Brian Clough (played by Michael Sheen). The following year saw the release of the historical drama The King's Speech (2010), starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, which was met with critical acclaim. Hooper's next film was Les Misérables (2012), which featured an all-star cast led by Hugh Jackman. His 2015 film, The Danish Girl, was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Film.
Hooper's work was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for Prime Suspect and John Adams, won one for Elizabeth I, and was nominated for the British Academy (BAFTA) TV Craft Award for Best Director for Longford. The King's Speech won multiple awards, including Best Director wins for Hooper from the Directors Guild of America and the Academy Awards, and a Best Director nomination from BAFTA.

Rupert Maconick
Saville Productions, founded by Rupert Maconick, is an established entertainment company that has produced hundreds of advertising campaigns for big brands with high-profile filmmakers, including: Martin Campbell (Casino Royale), Paul Haggis (Crash), Barry Levinson (Rain Man), Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man), Bryan Singer (X-Men), James Mcteigue (V For Vendetta), Wim Wenders (Buena Vista Social Club) Fernando Meirelles (City Of God), Michael Apted (The Up Series) Roger Michell (Notting Hill), Gavin O’Connor (The Accountant) and many others.
Saville produced a global World Cup short film for Adidas directed by Fernando Meirelles (City of God). Saville also produced a Werner Herzog directed short for AT&T “From One Second to the Next.”
Saville produced the Herzog feature-length documentary “Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World” for NetScout. The documentary premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Magnolia Pictures acquired the film for worldwide distribution. The film also won a D&AD Pencil at this year’s awards.
Saville co-produced “Eddie The Eagle,” starring Hugh Jackman distributed by Fox and Lionsgate.
Saville’s cinematic short film "Out There" won the Cannes Gold Lion. Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Haggis (Crash), the film is the first global campaign for luxury outerwear brand Canada Goose.
Saville is currently developing a slate of scripted series, documentaries and feature films in collaboration with major brands.

frederic planchon
Born in Lyon, Frederic began his career as a theatre actor, and worked as an assistant director on 15 Feature films before making his directional debut in 1990 with the short film 'L'Echange', which won the Prix de l’Image at the Festival de L’Image du Film. This launched his career as a music video and commercials director.
Frederic has won almost every major award there is for work on Orange, Miller, VW, Vauxhall, American Airlines, Mercedes and British Airways. In 2008 he picked up a coveted D&AD Best Director Pencil for Vodafone ‘Time Theft’. In the last 2 years alone he has collected many awards for his SSE and AT&T films, including 3 Golds, 2 Silvers and a Bronze at Cannes.

Debi Roach
Over 20 years’ television experience across award-winning entertainment, comedy, scripted, reality, magic, factual and children’s programming both in the UK and internationally. Now part of the Viceland senior management team, I helped set up the TV production arm of this new TV channel in the UK, including providing strategic support and practical advice on original programming for Viceland's growing family of channels across EMEA.

Selena Schleh
Selena Schleh is the deputy editor of shots, the world’s leading commercials title, which provides news, insight and inspiration for the global creative community.
During the course of her career as a features writer and editor, Selena has contributed to publications including the Telegraph, Dazed & Confused/Satellite Voices and Harrods Magazine. Prior to joining shots in 2015, she spent three years in Shanghai as Time Out’s Associate Editor, covering the city’s cultural and creative happenings.

Orlando Wood
Orlando started his career at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam as an in-house editor. He moved to the production department where he produced work for brands such as Nike, Coca-Cola and Heineken. In 2007, he moved to London to work or Fallon where he produced work for Sony, BBC, Innocent and Cadbury’s. He briefly left advertising before starting Biscuit to produce two documentary features - THE REVISIONARIES and IN GOD WE TRUST. Both films performed well on the festival circuit with The Revisionaries picking up the Tribeca Film Festival Special Jury Prize, PBS Independent Lens Audience Award, and the coveted Columbia DuPont award for broadcast journalism. Michael Moore said of The Revisionaries “I hope every American sees this film. It’s a must-see film for anyone concerned about enforced ignorance and intolerance.”
Orlando partnered with Shawn Lacy and Noam Murro to open Biscuit Filmworks in the UK five years ago. In that time, Biscuit has established itself as a solid presence among the top production companies in the UK. It’s remained top 10 in Televisual’s ranking of the UK’s top production companies since it’s first full year of trading, Campaign Magazine named it runner up production company of the year in it’s 2014 and 2015 annual issue, and the London office was runner up production company of the year at the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Shots Awards.
In 2015, Orlando packaged WATERSHIP DOWN in conjunction with Biscuit and 42 M+P to be commissioned for 4 hours of animated programming by the BBC and Netflix. The program will run in 2018 with Noam Murro as director.