Category Archives: Copywriters

U of Texas at Austin Week 2014 – Sarah Turner

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Sarah has her Bachelor’s in English: Creative Writing from The University of North Texas and now has a Masters in Advertising from the University of Texas. (Big ups!) From her About page: “I craft blogs, movie reviews, news articles, ad copy, short stories, and scribbles of absolute nothings on slips of paper I leave scattered across my apartment. I enjoy Hemingway, Hitchcock, and a band called Beirut. I believe in the Oxford Comma. And the occasional sentence fragment.” High-five on the Oxford Comma. And the sentence fragment.

Portfolio: cargocollective.com/sarahturner

Ricardo Duran

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Ricardo is a copywriter at LatinWorks in Santa Monica, just finishing up his first year there. He’s got a rad mix of produced, spec, conceptual, and just fun stuff on his site. He’s also a drummer, and there’s a link to some of his music as well. (Once again proving MC’s theory that drummers and comedians make great copywriters.) Well done, Mr. Duran.

Portfolio: ineedricardoduran.com

Thank you, Jim Terry

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As y’all know, MC doesn’t accept $$$ for posting writer sites on MC. However, every once in a while, a writer sends in a “thanks for posting my site” treat … which is totally above and beyond. This morning, MC received the above box of magically delicious chocolate chip (and what else is in there?! coconut?!) cookies from SoCal writer Jim Terry. Many thanks, Mr. Terry!!!

Nick Marchese

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Nick is a copywriter at Saatchi & Saatchi NY. You know, there’s nothing better than ads that make you laugh, like Nick’s Smooth Musings for Keystone with Keith Stone (“Bon Jovi. Which of course in French means, good Jovi”). Except, maybe, for ads that make you feel better about the world. Like Nick’s Super Bowl spot for Cheerios, or his videos for Goodwill. Nicely done, sir.

Portfolio: nickmarchese.tv

UPDATE: Louis Wittig

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Since his last post on MC (03.06.11), Louis moved to Euro where he worked on Dos Equis and The Most Interesting Man in the World, then to Grey New York where he works on everything from Pringles to Purolator. On the side, he’s also doing something awesome for the CW community. From Louis: “I do a Google Helpout where anyone (students mostly) who wants me to take a look at their portfolio can set a up a time, video chat with me, and I’ll tell them what I think. It’s completely free.” To check out Louis’s Helpout: Click here. Big ups, Louis! 

Portfolio: louiswittig.com

UPDATE: Jim Terry

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Since his last post on MC (03.26.12), Jim has moved from Portland to SoCal and added some new work to his site. Time for an update! It should also be noted that Jim is an Oregon grad, as is MC. So, while he’s now living the high life in Hermosa Beach or wherever, his head is firmly on the ground. Or his feet. No, his feet are in the sand. His head, then. On the ground. (Ahem.) Go Ducks!

Portfolio: themothership.cc

VCU Brandcenter Week 2014 – CW Grads

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Ladies and gentlemen, MC is honored to present the portfolio sites of the 2014 VCU Brandcenter graduating copywriters (in alphabetical order):

Sam Bauer – sambauercw.com

Karen Bolipata – karenbolipata.com

Jimmy Burton – jimmyburton.com

Ally Farrish – allyfarrish.com

Peter Henningsen – peterhenningsen.com

Katie Johnston – katierjohnston.com

Blakeley Jones – blakeleyjones.com

Demian Kendall – demiankendall.com

Chase Kimball – clkimball.com

Nicole Lague – nicolelague.com

Liz Loudy – lizloudy.com

Samson Madella – samsonmadella.com

Steve Nass – stevenjnass.com

Trong Nguyen – tronghnguyen.com

Hunter Pinnell – hpinnell.com

Erin Ridgeway – erinridgeway.com

Garrick Sheldon – garricksheldon.com

Gabe Sherman – meetgabesherman.com

Colleen Trachy – colleentrachy.com

VCU Brandcenter Week 2014 – Samson Madella

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Samson is from South India, where from 2002 through 2012 he was a professional bass player, church elder, missionary, guitar player, songwriter, clinician, proofreader, gofer, report writer, activist, publicist, singer, change agent, band manager, hotel lobby musician, content writer, and social justice advocate. Today, he is a new copywriter grad from VCU Brandcenter, and his site features projects represented by electric guitar pedals. Excellent.

Portfolio: samsonmadella.com

VCU Brandcenter Week 2014 – Garrick Sheldon

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VCU Brandcenter Week 2014 kicks off with Mr. Garrick Sheldon. Part of the fun of putting together a student book is that you not only get to go crazy creative with the work, but also with clients/projects. Garrick’s Monsanto campaign “In search of solutions, not popularity” flips the finger at protesters in the name solving world hunger. His Gas-X campaign “Focus” is a series of short documentaries about people who need less distractions on the job—female and male strippers is the first (above), bomb technicians will be the second. His LegalZoom.com campaign “Garage, Inc.” is about connecting entrepreneurs with investors who are willing to invest workspace. Dig it.

Portfolio: garricksheldon.com

Taylor Siolka

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Taylor is a copywriter/acd at R/West in Portland. After checking out his portfolio (don’t miss the First Tech spot with the pen, “A pen. Notice anything different about it? No chain attached.” Yes.), click over to his Culture page and behold Cruisedays On The Roof, which is all about watching Tom Cruise movies on the agency roof. (See Ice Man ice sculpture above.) Warning: there’s a tight-whitey shot halfway down the page.

Portfolio: taylorsiolka.com

UPDATE: Ben Santoriello

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Ben is a freelance writer in Chicago. Since his last post on MC, just after graduating from Circus (09.28.12), he’s spent time at INNOCEAN and Draftfcb, and added a bunch of work to his site. His book is in that in-between stage, part student and part produced, which MC digs seeing the most. So interesting to check out what writers create in school, and what that means in agency life, at this shop or that. Clicking through Ben’s site, MC totally remembered his school book vibe. And watching his FootJoy video, it’s like, yep, there he is—Bag Checking a pro golfer, just hoping to find Atomic Fireballs or Laphroaig.

Portfolio: bensantoriello.com

Jenny Wagstaff

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Jenny is a copywriter at Ogilvy in NYC, just over a year into it. Her book is in that part-student/part-produced stage that MC loves to see. Jenny’s got nine projects up on her site at the time of this post, three produced for UPS & Ferrari, Philips Norelco Social, and Big Ad Gig/Bully Prevention, plus six student campaigns. MC had no choice but to post a piece from her student campaign for Half Price Books, featuring The Cat In The Hat plus Gulliver’s Travels (originally titled “Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships” for the literary among us). “Two books for the price of one.” Nice.

Portfolio: jennybean.virb.com

James Madsen

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James is a copywriter/art director/CD in Milwaukee, on the hunt for his next adventure. Notice the CW/AD slash in his title. How many CWs have fantasized about having that slash? “I know my copy is great. It just needs to be designed different. If only …” and then you wake up, still seeing some ghost of the perfect layout in your mind, but not clearly enough to do it yourself, and besides, you don’t really know how to do type in InDesign anyway, even if you do know the kerning button. Dang.

Portfolio: holymolycow.com

Steve Taylor

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Steve is a copywriter in … well, he’s all over the place. From his site: “Throughout 2014, I’ll be plying my craft at advertising agencies across North America and documenting the entire experience as I go. It’s about discovering creative transcendence, experiencing native cultures and developing a new understanding of what it means to be a part of this crazy world we call advertising.” Awesome idea. Good luck, Mr. Taylor!

Site: thegreatagencyadventure.com

UPDATE: Nick Zafonte

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Since his last post on MC (07.13.2010 “Elf Yourself”), Nick has become a writer/director—first with his short The First Day and soon with his first feature No Retreat. Nick is currently trying to raise $10k through indiegogo to produce it, and has over $7k so far. Check it out at the link below. You can also visit his portfolio site at the link below that.

Link: indiegogo.com/projects/no-reatreat
Nick’s portfolio: nickzafonte.com