For the last two decades creative director Jennie McGuirk has been the visionary responsible for helping a long list of brands establish competitive and innovative roles in their individual markets.

Back in the 90s McGuirk took her passion for photography to the next level when she attended Manchester Met University for Art Foundation, followed by the Edinburgh College of Art where she graduated with a Bachelor of Art's with honors in visual communication.

McGuirk's background in photography has equipped her with the tools to speak visually and reach the target audiences of a long list of high-profile publications and online outlets such as Creativebase.com, ZOO, Pictured and others.

"I was Researcher and Editor of Photography for Creativebase.com and ZOO at Will Gompertz’s publishing company, Purple House. Both creative industry publications championed international creative excellence, across a range of disciplines,” recalls McGuirk.

"ZOO was a sumptuous coffee table quarterly while Creativebase was one of the early pioneers in digital publishing. It was a hotbed of activity and I was invited to attend high-profile events and award ceremonies and interview leading figures in the creative community. "

Living in an impressive range of countries across continents over the course of her life, McGuirk has immersed herself in various cultures, something that has served as an incredible asset helping her to understand the various needs and wants of audiences around the world.

"I’ve always cast an international focus across my life and have prioritized travel as a way of learning about different cultures," explains McGuirk.

Reaching fluency in French, Italian and German, McGuirk's experience living and working across the globe has also provided her with a hard to come by knowledge and adaptability in the professional world in regards to the way different cultures approach business. In fact, one of her early career achievements in the realm of multicultural communications was working as a translator for the Intercity Festival at Teatro Della Limonaia in Italy where she liaised between German, Italian and English theater professionals and scripts.

Already equipped with a keen insight into the direction global businesses were going in, McGuirk was using her talents to bring together companies across cultures 13 years before Forbes published their findings on the invaluable impact professionals with multicultural capabilities have on the business sector in the article "The Rise of Multicultural Managers."

McGuirk's unfettered knowledge of the way audiences from different cultures can see an ad, but receive polar opposite messages, made her the perfect person to take on the role of Media Buyer for the 2005 D&AD Awards Call for Entry campaign.

As such, McGuirk recalls, "I was responsible for placing adverts and marketing material in numerous trade publications across the globe. The concept of the creative campaign referenced the English language phrase “green with envy.”

Founded in 1962, the D&AD Awards (Design and Art Direction Awards) is a globally respected charity organization that promotes and honors excellence in creative advertising and design, with an awards program that invites the world's foremost talents in the field to submit their work for consideration.

In regards to translating the "green with envy" message into a concept the Japanese audience could recognize, McGuirk explains, "On learning the intricacies of the local markets, I understood that this would not translate universally, especially for the Japanese audience. In order to communicate our message, I approached celebrated designer Issay Kitagawa and initiated the commission of a bespoke advert for the Japanese market. This resulted in a record number of Japanese entries.”

She also ran the Creative Research Department as an internal creative consultant for advertising giant Ogilvy & Mather.

While working with the agency McGuirk says, "I managed the Creative Resource Library and provided reference, inspiration and concepts for print, poster, TV, viral and interactive campaigns."

Her knowledge of the latest and greatest developments in the creative world and her awareness of the international talents driving innovations in the industry led her to create, research, edit and publish the quarterly publication Showcase magazine and showreel for Ogilvy. An internal print magazine and accompanying DVD, McGuirk's creation provided the company with invaluable resources exposing them to a collection of talents that would be useful in the creation of campaigns for the company's high profile clients like Ford, American Express, GSK, Unilever, BP, DHL, Vittel, Cancer Research, WWF and others.

"Content included cutting-edge photography, illustration, short films, music videos, interactive media, publications and international feature films," explains McGuirk.

"Executive Creative Director, Malcolm Poynton, subsequently championed Showcase at international Ogilvy and WPP Creative Directors’ meetings, resulting in an extended distribution to Ogilvy Group agencies and European offices.”

The importance of McGuirk's contributions in this area cannot be overstated. Through Showcase magazine and showreel, McGuirk took the guesswork out of the process of searching for new and innovative talents and provided Ogilvy with a streamlined source of information and inspiration on the best and brightest talents and the most important innovations in the industry.

Jennie McGuirk has always known what the next best innovation is going to be before it happens; and her unparalleled knowledge of groundbreaking developments in the creative world combined with her expertise in multicultural communication has continued to keep her at the top of the industry for the past 20 years.

Throughout his colorful acting career, Jay Kim has caught the eye of many leading directors and producers in the entertainment industry.

With each project he completes, Kim continues to turn heads, and he is frequently asked to lend his skillful talent to productions based solely on his name and reputation.

Among those whom Kim has garnered consideration include Academy and Emmy award-winning director Milton Justice, who recognized Kim’s talent long ago, when he was just an acting student. It was under the tutelage and guidance of Justice that Kim turned his passion for acting from a hobby into a successful career.

Since then, Justice has asked Kim to star in two of his productions, Woman in Mind, and Waiting for Lefty. In each of these performances, Kim infused his roles with such authenticity that one would not be able to recognize him as the same person from one production to the next.

Of Kim, Milton Justice is quoted as saying, “Upon meeting Jay, having taught him, and doing plays together, I demanded he move back to the States to study and nurture his talent. My God, his growth exceeded my predictions.”

Kim has also caught the eye of award-winning producer, actor and writer Timothy McNeil. Known for his roles in Forrest Gump, Contact and Starship Troopers, McNeil more recently broadened his horizons as a writer and producer, reaching out to personally select Kim for his original play, The Straight Bozo. In the play, Kim brings a refreshing comedic element that helps the entire cast achieve a sense of balance.

Esteemed Greek actor and director Yorgos Karamihos also endorsed Kim’s multifaceted talent, giving him a leading role in his production of The Rose Tattoo. In this classic Tennessee Williams play, Kim stars as Jack, an idealistic young sailor who has fallen in love with the beautiful Rosa. Rarely is there a love story that is without difficulty however, and The Rose Tattoo is no exception, as Jack has to contend with Rosa’s bitter mother, Serafina, and gain her permission to betroth Rosa.

While his origins as a standout actor are deeply rooted in theatre, Kim has also appeared in many films, with a wealth of experience in both short and feature films.

Some of the short films in which Kim has recently secured leading roles include Incision, Maestro, and The Love Pentagram.

Kim also commanded control of the big screen in a feature-length production entitled Purgatory, which tells the harrowing story of a man who has died in a car accident and finds himself in Purgatory. During his time in Purgatory, this man meets a variety of characters. Kim commands the screen in his depiction of the dark and disturbed Tod, a broken junkie who committed suicide after a lifetime of being beaten by his father.

When one recalls Kim’s light-hearted roles in some of his theatrical performances, the gravity with which he portrays the character Tod in Purgatory gives audiences a vivid example of the versatility he brings to his acting.

When actor Douglas Bennett, known for his work in Sons of Anarchy and Gone in 60 Seconds, was asked what he thought of Kim’s performance in Purgatory, he replied, “extraordinary performance by a young actor.”

While he might be young, the experience Kim has attained has given him a maturity in his craft that is well recognized by many.

Currently, Kim is shooting a feature film entitled The Dragon’s Lair, a scintillating thriller, which will be released in 2016.

As Kim continues to complete new projects, he will surely continue to catch the attention of both fans and leading members of the entertainment industry. As he is personally approached to contribute his talents to more and more productions, his level of stardom will only rise higher from where it already soars.

Although she is still very young, actress Shiva Negar has already led a varied and colorful life that has taken her around the world; and, although assimilating to new cultures can be a challenge, especially during the formative teenage years, her passion for performing has been an unshakeable constant in her life throughout every transition.

"I was always a performer, ever since I was a kid. According to my mom when I was around 5 or 6 years old I would go in a room and create all these different characters and act out scenes and make up a whole play all by myself," recalls Negar.

"Hence, the performing arts were always something I was passionate about, however the crazy and diverse life experiences I had during my childhood and adolescence gave me a later start than I had hoped for."

In all honesty, Shiva's start may have come later than she would have hoped considering the fact that she discovered her life's passion so early, but in reality, she rose to the top of the entertainment industry at a much younger age than most of today's hottest talents. For Shiva, all it took was her decision to put herself out there for her to gain international recognition as an actress, an accomplishment that comes few and far between.

Some of her films to date include Street Meet, Let’s Rap, Where Love Takes you, Lost Journey, White Lines, as well as others. Most notably however is Daniel Sarkissian's film Loraine, in which Shiva played the starring role of Alyssa and gave a standout performance that garnered her the Distinctive Achievement Award, as well as a nomination for Best Actress at the 2013 Wild Rose Independent Film Festival.


Produced by DS Productions (Skate, Revolutionary Love, Pen & Pixel), Loraine was an unquestionable hit on the international film festival circuit taking home two other awards at the Wild Rose Independent Festival in addition to the award Shiva won for her performance, as well as an award for Best Narrative at the Los Angeles Film and Script Festival and the Festival Choice Award at the Trinity International Film Festival.

Diving into the painful and relevant subject of bullying, Loraine is a hard-hitting film that revolves around an 8-year-old boy named Jake, played by Raphael Chahinian.

When Jake, a kid who loves metal music, is bullied at school and made to feel as though he is somehow not as "cool" as the other kids, his hip older cousin Alyssa, played by Shiva Negar, is the only person he can turn to as a confidant and the motivator he needs to restore his confidence and self-worth.

About the role of Alyssa, Shiva recalls, "This was definitely a change for me from playing mostly mysterious, supernatural and evil roles to playing a girl next door with good intentions, which I have to say was fairly easier to do."

Aside from being fantastic at what she does, having spent her life dedicating herself to her craft and developing the ability to embody each new role she takes on with complete authenticity and believability, the reason it was so easy for Shiva to tap into her character in this case probably has something to do with the fact that she is sweet by nature. As a person in general it is a much further stretch to imagine her as the evil mystic like the recurring role she played as the Gypsy in the TV series 24 Hour Rental; but that is why it is called "acting," and she has proven that she is among the best in the industry.

Shiva admits, "I love having a great range and I always like to push myself with playing unique and challenging characters."

In George Mihalka's (My Bloody Valentine) television series 24 Hour Rental, which was distributed by Reel One Entertainment Worldwide and debuted last year airing nationally across Canada on Super Channel, a fallen Mafioso named Tracker, played by Romano Orzari, operates a seedy video rental store.

In an attempt to get back in with the mafia during the first season Tracker shoots and kills the Gypsy's lover; but he has no idea the can of worms he's opened with his action. An evil mystic with developed powers, Shiva's character proceeds to make Tracker's life a living hell for the remainder of the season. 

"My character was a Gypsy who traveled from Eastern Europe to America for the so called “Freedom. In one of the episodes she opens up with this long monologue about how ironic the meaning of “Freedom” is in the Western culture," Shiva recalls.

"This role was actually a bit heartfelt for me because there were definitely parts I could relate to when it comes to migrating from another country to the West for a better life and for freedom so to speak. It’s basically what me and my family went through when I was a kid."

Shiva Negar was born in Iran and migrated at a very young age to Istanbul, Turkey where she lived for several years until moving to Canada at the age of 12. The young actress's amalgamation of cultural perspectives have given her a collection of experiences that have all lent themselves to her craft, and have provided her with unparalleled diversity.

Shiva recently finished shooting the feature film Let’s Rap. Currently in postproduction, the film is a comedy about a brother and sister with a penchant for pop culture that set out to produce their own talk show. In Let's Rap, Shiva stars alongside Rachel Wilson who is known for her role in Austin Powers, and Brendan Gall who is known for his role in the award-winning film The Captive.

You could say that everything film editor Marta Bonet de Gispert touches turns to gold.  In fact, piecing together all the awards and accolades that make up Marta’s credits over the last decade would be a full-time job even for her.

Hands down, Bonet de Gispert is one of the most outstanding editors internationally.  Her brilliant work on Temporada 92-93, one of her earliest pieces, received over 50 collective awards and nominations—again, far too many to mention each.  But among them were awards for Best Film, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director at respected international film festivals, and you can bet a nomination for Best Editing was amongst them.

An award-winning success, to say the least, the film's comedic portrayal of Spain’s passion for its beloved soccer quickly made the film a fan favorite.  As an editor, the film is only the tip of the iceberg when considering Bonet de Gispert's vast range of successful projects.

After working on director Alejandro Marzoa's film Temporada 92-93, Bonet de Gispert was tapped to edit yet another of Marzoa's films, Padre Modelo a.k.a Role Model Father. Proving the strength of their collaboration Padre Modelo was a resounding success at film festivals around the world as well.

Switching gears from the comedic story of Temporada 92-93, the film Padre Modelo erects a dramatic and heart wrenching story that revolves around a young bullied boy who resists his father's love and attention when he comes to pick him up from school due to his fear of the other kids making fun of him.

The film won an award at the prestigious Festival de Cans, 2nd Prize at the Festival De Cortos “Villa De Errenteria," the Best Actor Award at the International Competition of Cerdanya for Miguel de Lira's performance, the Audience Award at the XIX Muestra de Cine Internacional de Palencia, the Audience Award at the International Audiovisual Event Lyceum Casino Vilagarcía, as well as several others.

While some work hard for years and years in hopes of building up a portfolio like the one Marta Bonet de Gispert has accrued, she seems to have done so from the start.

Perhaps it is because the Barcelonan comes from a family of lawyers, a career path she decided to forgo at the last minute whilst in law school, giving up a place amongst them to pursue her passion in filmmaking. Bonet de Gispert’s instincts were right on cue, as her editing continues to reflects the necessary timing and purpose needed to drive each story.

While she has reached international acclaim as an editor for film, and was even chosen as an editing consultant on Oscar Award winner Martin Scorsese's film The Key to Reserva, she has also doted her skills upon the world of television with the series Latino Dub and Califorma. But her talents do not stop there. In 2009 she proved her capacity as an editor in the world of music videos with the highly successful videos for OBK's "Sin Rencor," and again with Aritz Villodas' "No me pidas que te bese porqué te besaré."

She not only earned a bachelor’s degree in Film and a master’s in Motion Picture and Television, but she also went on to earn a specialized post-graduate degree in Screenwriting for Comedy.  This degree led to one of Bonet de Gispert’s proudest honors, she says, being asked in 2008 to act as a judge of her peers in the SNC Film competition during its very first year, which focused on depression and anxiety.

SNC Film, which translates in Spanish as the Central Nervous System, began the film competition to use the art of filmmaking to combat the stigma that surrounds mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s Disease, and others.  Each year focuses on one decided area.

About judging the SNC film competition Bonet de Gispert recalls, "It was a great experience, in which I had to keep an open mind to not only judge based on my personal likes. It was also challenging the fact that  I was judging the quality of the project, but also the values in them, which was an essential part of the project."

Bonet de Gispert’s secret talent is her ability to present the serious along with loving light-heartedness.  Of course, this doesn't always happen in the same film as the mark of good editor means doing what is right for each particular story, her talent for bringing in comedic elements in the midst of the darkest tales is definitely a feature that sets her apart.

She recently worked as the editor of an amazing documentary that just opened here in the US at the Tribeca Film Festival and is receiving national attention, both for its story and its subject matter.

Titled Gored, the film follows Antonio Barrera, Spain’s most “gored” matador. The battered bullfighter has his last chance with a bull.  With his wife and daughter watching on, will he survive one more dance with fate?

Switching from, say, her editing in Temporada 92-93, a fun soccer tribute, to such a monumental story of Spain’s most gruesome and infamous sport, bullfighting, the success of both films have proven Bonet de Gispert's adaptability as an editor across genres.

“The challenge in Gored was to adapt to a documentary format,” she says.  “In documentaries you have a different working method, where you create your narrative structure completely in the editing room.  It is a very much longer process than in fiction, but definitely very interesting.”

Personally, Marta says her favorite project recently was the intense psychological thriller Devil May Call, which was filmed in Los Angeles and debuted at the 2013 Marches du Film event in Cannes.  

Not one to shy away from a challenge, Bonet de Gispert continues to take on a diverse of range of work, crossing over international boundaries with ease.  Speaking French, Spanish, Catalan and English, the phenom also crossed over into writing and directing with her upcoming project, El Otro Lado (The Other Side).

About the film, Bonet de Gispert says, "El Otro Lado is a an action thriller short film about a well-mannered lawyer that finds himself going over the edge and switching the world of laws to that of violence after laundering money for the cartels."

While she enjoys the awards and praise that came so quickly in her career and have continued for nearly a decade, Marta is one talent who truly doesn’t work or strive towards that.  She says she’s happy “to just keep on working on interesting projects that make a difference for audiences.”   

She adds, “Everything else is secondary.”

The highly watched series not only marked O'Connell's first reoccurring role in a television series, but it catapulted Jai to the top of the television world as well.

She would go on to star in the television shows Pillars of Freedom, Medabots, Monster Force, The Magic School Bus, The Busy World of Richard Scary, Trail Mix, Stickn' Around, Little Rosey and many others.

Jai also starred as Jasmine Matsumuto alongside Oscar and Golden Globe nominated actor Mako (Memoirs of a Geisha, Seven Years in Tibet, Pearl Harbor, RoboCop 3, Rising Sun, The Sand Pebbles), Billy Blanks (Kiss the Girls, Jack and Jill, Assault on Devil's Island) and Adrian Hough (X-Men: The Last Stand, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Fog, Underworld: Evolution) in the film Balance of Power.

An action packed fight film Balance of Power centers on the story of Niko (Billy Blanks), a fighter who runs a dojo for underprivileged kids, and Todo Matsumoto (Mako), a martial arts expert who trains Niko to go up against an evil gang that is determined to destroy the dojo.

Jai's sweet face and innocent approach to her character Jasmine, Todo's granddaughter and a constant fixture throughout the film, adds incredible amounts of cuteness to Balance of Power, a key component in making the film fit for a family oriented audience.

For example, after Jai's character takes Niko to meet her grandfather to help him mend his wounds after being beaten to a pulp in an alley, she fixates her eyes on his sculpted abs and says, "May I?" and subsequently punches him in the stomach. In one of the film's most memorable moments audiences see Niko doing push-up as the small-framed Jasmine sits comfortably on his back nonchalantly reading a book.

A difficult and almost impossible task for many adult actors, Jai has managed to bring that same child-like innocence that we see in Balance of Power to many of her roles during adulthood when necessary.

Adding incredible emotional depth and vulnerability to Birdie, one of the leading characters in the theater production of "What of the Night," Jai gave a standout performance that received rave reviews.

Directed by Caitlin Hart, the play follows Birdie as she grapples with the decision to leave her poverty-ridden family at the age of 14 in order to create a better life for herself; a decision which means leaving everything she knows behind and heading out into the cold cruel world.

A Pulitzer Prize nominated play written by Maria Irene Fornes, "What of the Night" follows Birdie on a 60-year long journey of self-realization, love, betrayal and sorrow. Jai powerfully displays her capacity as an actress as she transforms from the young 14-year-old Birdie who is dead set on escaping poverty to the fragile elderly woman she becomes as years pass before the audience's very eyes. 

Director Caitlin Hart says, "Lisa Jai is an exceptionally professional and talented actor. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her on two shows in Los Angeles and I hope to cast her in all my shows to come! Her talent is limitless and her unique generosity onstage is a rare find. Los Angeles is lucky to have Lisa Jai!"

Staged at the Vagrancy theatre in Los Angeles in 2014, "What of the Night" received an Ovation Recommendation from LA STAGE Alliance, a coveted recognition that serves as a huge testament to the performances given by Jai and her costars.

Considered by many to be the Tony Awards of the Los Angeles theater world, the LA STAGE Alliance Ovation Awards provide a prestigious level of distinction awarding the best plays in LA, which is voted on by 250 professionals currently working in the theater industry.

As an Ovation Recommended play "What of the Night" is now in the running as a possible nominee for the upcoming awards, which are usually held at the end of the year.

 

Elin Ekdahl, known to international EDM fans as DJ Kiraz, has been one of Japan's leading female DJs for the past four years.

This breathtaking and talented beauty discovered her love of music early on in her teens back home in Sweden where she was influenced by artists like Aly & Fila and Bjorn Akesson, among others.

About these artists, DJ Kiraz says, "They are so incredibly talented, and they create the kind of music that I want to create. But at the same time, they are incredibly kind and down to earth."

Little did she know that only a few years after she turned professional she would be spinning tracks alongside some of the very people she idolized in her youth. Some of the electro and trance icons DJ Kiraz has shared a bill with include the likes of Headhunterz, Rebecca & Fiona, Yoji, UMEK, Stephane Pompougnac and Paul van Dyk.

Being called to perform at an impressive list of events in Japan, DJ Kiraz has already become a household name in the country's EDM scene. Some of the venues and events in Japan where DJ Kiraz has performed include XEX Nihonbashi, Club Asia, Aoyama Laputa Garden, Opera and Origami, as well as several summer parties at two of the hottest beaches in Tokyo, Zushi and Enoshima.

DJ Kiraz is known for blowing the roof off every event she plays at, a reputation that led her to be tapped as one of the DJs for Vogue Fashion’s Night Out event where she bumped her insane beats at the Swarovski store in Omotesando, Japan. Taking place in 2011, the event was the country's first ever event of this kind, and included other notable artists such as The Crooks and Jennifer Hudson, as well as a list of the world's foremost fashion designers including Christopher Bailey, Roberto Cavalli, Michael Kors and Kris Van Assch.

Just like the artists in the scene that she personally admires, DJ Kiraz's approachability and down to earth attitude combined with her unparalleled musical prowess have made her a beloved artist in the eyes of fans, something that has led her to astonishing international acclaim.

"The first reason I'm a fan of DJ Kiraz is because she plays real EDM music. Japanese DJs play EDM as well, but their taste is more melody oriented," explains Reiji Kobayashi, one of DJ Kiraz's most dedicated Japanese fans.

"Elin's mixes are more beat oriented, which helps me get into the zone and dance without thinking. The second reason is that she is not only beautiful, but she is a very accommodating person; personality is an important factor for a top DJ, and as far as I have seen she is very kind to everybody."

For the past year DJ Kiraz has been blasting her signature sound for an ever-growing fan base at high-profile clubs in Los Angeles, most notably Exchange LA.

Although Kobayashi now lives in London, he says, "I miss her as a DJ so much, so perhaps I should start going to L.A. to see her at nightclubs there."

Earlier this year DJ Kiraz found representation with Alejandro Rodriguez, a highly respected manager in the electronic music scene who is known for working with other prominent artists like Steve Aoki, Deorro, Nervo, Joachim Garraud And Autoerotique.

With a solid list of incredible accomplishment as an EDM DJ already under her belt, a coveted collection of clubs and events across continents vying for the chance to add her to their line-up, and Rodriguez as her manager, there is literally no stopping DJ Kiraz!

If you want to find out more about her and immerse yourself in her music, make sure to check out her soundcloud page where she posts a bi-monthly podcast of tracks that are sure to knock your socks off.