David Gray is an American

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

, commercial director, and former

creative director A creative director (or creative supervisor) is a person who makes high-level creative decisions and, with those decisions, oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos. Creative director positions ar ...

Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Goodby, Silverstein & Partners (also known as GSP) is an advertising agency based in San Francisco. History The agency was founded on April 15, 1983 as Goodby, Berlin & Silverstein by Jeff Goodby, Andy Berlin and Rich Silverstein. Andy Berlin lef ...

and

BBDO BBDO is a worldwide advertising agency network, with its headquarters in New York City. The agency originated in 1891 with the George Batten Company, and in 1928, through a merger with Barton, Durstine & Osborn (BDO), the agency became Batten, B ...

. He has worked with numerous brands including

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine given ...

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

American Express American Express Company (Amex) is an American multinational corporation specialized in payment card services headquartered at 200 Vesey Street in the Battery Park City neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The company was found ...

Microsoft Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...

FedEX FedEx Corporation, formerly Federal Express Corporation and later FDX Corporation, is an American multinational conglomerate holding company focused on transportation, e-commerce and business services based in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "Fe ...

Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German Automotive industry, motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a ...

, and

GEICO The Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO ) is a private American auto insurance company with headquarters in Chevy Chase, Maryland. It is the second largest auto insurer in the United States, after State Farm. GEICO is a wholly owne ...

Life and career

Gray grew up in

Rochester, NY Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Wes ...

and graduated cum laude from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. He was an

art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

Saatchi & Saatchi Saatchi & Saatchi is a British multinational communications and advertising agency network with 114 offices in 76 countries and over 6,500 staff. It was founded in 1970 and is currently headquartered in London. The parent company of the agency gr ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and worked on various packaged goods like

Tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

, Cascade, and

General Mills General Mills, Inc., is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of branded processed consumer foods sold through retail stores. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, the company orig ...

cereals. At BBDO, Gray was promoted to creative director on their

Snickers Snickers is a chocolate bar made by the American company Mars, Incorporated, consisting of nougat topped with caramel and peanuts that is encased in milk chocolate. The annual global sales of Snickers was over $3 billion . In the United Ki ...

account and co-created the award winning "Not going anywhere for a while?" campaign. His work was honored as Campaign of the Year by

AdWeek ''Adweek'' is a weekly American advertising trade publication that was first published in 1979. ''Adweek'' covers creativity, client–agency relationships, global advertising, accounts in review, and new campaigns. During this time, it has cover ...

and Commercial of the Year by

Advertising Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

. In 1997, BBDO was named Agency of the Year at the

Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity (formerly the International Advertising Festival) is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. It is considered the largest gathering of the ...

in large part due to the success of Gray's campaign. In 1997, Gray joined Goodby, Silverstein & Partners as creative director on their

E*Trade E-Trade Financial Corporation (stylized as E*TRADE) is a financial services subsidiary of Morgan Stanley, which offers an electronic trading platform to trade financial assets. The company receives revenue from interest income on margin balanc ...

and Nike accounts, which also merited him numerous awards. Advertising Age named Goodby, Silverstein & Partners Agency of the Year in both 1999 and 2000, again in part due to Gray's work. His E*Trade "Monkey," "Monkey II," and "Wazoo" spots have been named some of the best Super Bowl ads of all-time. After his success as an art director, Gray returned to filmmaking and started directing commercials with Hungry Man in New York. Shortly after his debut, he was nominated for the prestigious Commercial Director of the Year Award by the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

, which is bestowed on upon the industry's Top 5 directors each year. From Hungry Man, he went onto direct with Station Film, and is now on SKUNK's roster in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. David Gray currently resides in Rye, New York.

Awards

* 2013: Cannes Lions, Bronze for "Curfew" * 2012: D&AD, Nominee for "History of America" * 2007: DGA, Director of the Year, Nominee * 2006: London International Advertising Awards, Entertainment, for "Transvestite" * 2006: Effie, Gold, for "Transvestite" * 2006: One Show, Pencil, for "Transvestite" * 2006: D&AD, Yellow Pencil, for "Transvestite" * 2006: Cannes Lions, Bronze, for "Transvestite"Transvestite
* 2000: London International Advertising Awards, Banking & Financial Services, for "Monkey," "Tri-Mount," and "Wazoo" * 2000: Clio Awards, Media Promotion, for "Wazoo" * 2000: International ANDY Awards, Financial Products & Services, for "Wazoo"
* 2000: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Basketball" * 2000: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Tri-Mount" * 2000: Cannes Lions, Gold, for "Monkey" * 1998: Cannes Lions, Gold, for "Cologne" * 1997: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Team Prayer" * 1997: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Football Player" * 1997: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Batman" * 1997: Cannes Lions, Silver, for "Chefs" * 1997: AICP Awards, Humor, for "Chefs" * 1997: Advertising Age's The Best Awards, Best TV Commercial, for "Chefs" * 1997: AdWeek Campaign of the Year, for Snickers campaignBest spots 1996. (Adweek editors select best 1996 television commercials)

References

External links

*

Vimeo

Official Website {{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Artists from Rochester, New York Film directors from New York (state) Advertising directors