It would be a shame if the students were the only weird and wonderful people in the building.

To make sure we offer the best help, advice and teaching possible to our creative cohort, we’ve assembled a team that’s just as eclectic as they are.

We have administration experts and pastoral care specialists, as well as strategists, digital wizards, creative directors, designers, writers, typographers, film makers… and a dog.

Called Squirrel. Because we can.

The Staff

Staff

Marc Lewis

Founder & Dean

Alexandra Taylor

Art Director Mentor

Mike Nicholson

Strategy Mentor

Pete Cain

Creative Director

Ian Hands

Craft Mentor

Caroline Hampstead

Copywriter Mentor

Uri Baruchin

Strategy Mentor

Richard Russell

Copywriter Mentor

Toufic Beyhum

Creative Director

Deanna Rodger

Copywriter Mentor

Thiago de Moraes

Art Director Mentor

Mr. Cee

Comedy Mentor

Rob MacGillivray

Art Director Mentor

Gary Neill

Craft Mentor

Alan Burles

Art Director Mentor

Chris Hill

Copywriter Mentor

Alex Mecklenburg

Life Coach

Shannon Vaughan

Executive Assistant/Producer

Max Woodall-Collins

Operations Manager

Marcia Miller

Studio Manager

Squirrel

Marc Lewis

Founder & Dean

Alexandra Taylor

Art Director Mentor

Mike Nicholson

Strategy Mentor

Ian Hands

Craft Mentor

Uri Baruchin

Strategy Mentor

Toufic Beyhum

Creative Director

Thiago de Moraes

Art Director Mentor

Rob MacGillivray

Art Director Mentor

Gary Neill

Craft Mentor

Alan Burles

Art Director Mentor

Chris Hill

Copywriter Mentor

Shannon Vaughan

Executive Assistant/Producer

Marc Lewis

Founder & Dean

Toufic Beyhum

Creative Director

Thiago de Moraes

Art Director Mentor

Gary Neill

Craft Mentor

Alex Mecklenburg

Life Coach

Shannon Vaughan

Executive Assistant/Producer

Max Woodall-Collins

Operations Manager

Marcia Miller

Studio Manager

Marc Lewis

Founder & Dean

Marc Lewis was a scholarship student at SCA when it last existed in the 1990s. He left to work for Leo Burnett as a writer, but ended up creating technology companies.

Marc’s start-ups created over £50m in shareholder value, but he fell out of love with money and wanted to do something more meaningful. A heart-to- heart conversation with Sir John Hegarty and Rory Sutherland led to the reopening of SCA in 2010. John and Rory became founding Governors.

Because he won his scholarship, without which he would probably have made a career flogging fake Rolexes and stolen car stereos, he is devoted to helping others benefit from similar opportunities. As a result, SCA has distributed over £1m of scholarships and bursaries since reforming.

Marc’s favourite advert growing up was Graham Fink’s British Airways commercial, although HHCL’s campaign for Tango runs a very, very, very close second.

Alexandra Taylor

Art Director Mentor

Acknowledged as one of the UK’s most respected and acclaimed art directors, Alexandra Taylor has gained a reputation for her prolific award-winning work.

She has been recognised by D&AD for her outstanding contribution to advertising, and among her accolades are over 200 entries into the D&AD Annual, 7 silver D&AD pencils and 9 silver D&AD nominations including the Grand Prix at Cannes. In 2014 she was the first female recipient of the D&AD President’s Award for her outstanding contribution to Advertising. The majority of her years in Advertising have been at Saatchi & Saatchi London, where she was joint Creative Director.

Mike Nicholson

Strategy Mentor

Mike brings almost 22 years of experience from the world of digital, design and advertising.

Previously he was the Executive Creative Director at Brave, The&Partnership Canada and Toaster (Google Creative Lab’s partner). Mike has worked with some great creative agencies including AMV BBDO, Wieden + Kennedy and Adam and Eve DDB.

Mike was named the number 1 English Creative in The GUNN Report 2009. His industry accolades include being recognised over 130 times at all the usual award shows including D&AD pencils in ten different categories.

Mike’s favourite ad growing up was Carling Black Label – Dambusters.

Pete Cain

Creative Director

Pete has worked at and been fired from some of London’s top ad agencies. He’s directed commercials, been a professional stand-up comedian, and written and directed a sketch comedy tv series. His sharp writing and obsession with ‘creative propositions’ has led him back to teach part-time at the SCA. He studied there in the mid-’90s before embarking a tumultuous award-winning career. Notably, he won Campaign ‘Poster of the Year’ while still on placement. More recently, he has established The Raised Eyebrow Society, a purpose-led ideas collective. Oh, and he swears a lot, too.

Ian Hands

Craft Mentor

I tell people that I teach ‘detail’. I’m a stickler for it, it’s what I see first.

There are very few creative areas I haven’t turned my hand to; illustration, painting, food styling, photography, font design, graphic design, typography, digital 3D, music, animation… it’s all drawing to me. And I love to share what I’ve learnt — at every stage of my career I have always taught. Teaching is the best way to learn.

Creativity is in my DNA and my family name. I’d rather create than consume.

Ian’s favourite ad growing up was Cresta – It’s Frothy Man. Or anything with polar bears in.

Caroline Hampstead

Copywriter Mentor

Caroline Hampstead started her career wanting to be a barrister but ended up as a copywriter at WCRS and HHCL where she worked on accounts including Orange, BMW, Carling, Camelot and Danish Bacon.

She has been a D&AD judge and awards include Eurobest, Aerial, CBS Outdoor Long Copy Challenge, Grocer Magazine and Florida ADDY.

Currently freelance, she splits her time between ad agencies, digital agencies, design companies and dance classes (performances include 3 out of 4 2012 Olympic/Paralympic ceremonies, Dance the Dream with English National Ballet, Crowd Out with the LSO and Resolution! 2014 at The Place).

Uri Baruchin

Strategy Mentor

With a career split between digital and brand building, from the early days of the Tel Aviv Internet scene to over 20 years of international strategy based in London. Uri can’t stop thinking.

Uri has led cross-functional teams with Siegel & Gale, Landor and The Partners, where he was Head of Strategy up to the Superunion merger. He has worked with blue-chip clients such as Nestle, Sony and MINI as well as boutique brands and start-ups. Frequently, he’s found himself as “a strategist to the strategists”, shaping the methodology of creative agencies and for clients such as Deloitte, Kantar, and Bain & Company.

He now runs a boutique agency working on strategic brand programmes and campaigns across B2C and B2B clients and collaborating with selected agencies – from household brand names to cybersecurity and a new VC fund.

Bringing strategy education and mentoring to strategists, creatives and clients has been a passion, quest and obsession – including years of involvement with the WPP Fellowship, teaching at the London College of Communications and recently the D&AD’s new masterclass in creative strategy.

While most of Uri’s childhood adverts were in Hebrew, he remember this one from the US, for Penn Tennis Balls, stayed with him. An early introduction to self-referential humour, Uri still enjoys all things meta.

Richard Russell

Copywriter Mentor

Richard has been kicked out of some of the best agencies in the world, during a rich and unpredictable career.

His best-known work was probably made at Wieden + Kennedy London, where he was lucky enough to create many of the early ads in the Honda ‘Power of Dreams’ campaign. (Voted ‘Campaign of the Decade’’ by Campaign.) He can’t pretend he isn’t touched that his Honda ‘Banana’ print ad and diesel ‘Grrr’ commercial are still referred to all these years later. 

If pressed, though, his favourite advertising memory is of the guy who wanted a life size copy of his Gordon’s Gin 48-sheet poster, so he could put it on a wall inside his huge 16th century mansion. Maybe it’s still there?

Richard has always loved that a Creative department is, in theory, a meritocracy. A place where anyone can have the next great idea, irrespective of status, or salary, or age, or gender, or background. 

He takes real satisfaction in enthusing and enabling young Creatives, not least because it is this new generation of wiser Creatives who are going to have to save advertising itself. 

 

Richard’s favourite ad growing up was Kia-Ora – ‘I’ll be your dog’. He yearns for the return of the jingle.

 

Toufic Beyhum

Creative Director

Toufic Beyhum graduated in fine arts and advertising in the UK in 1994 and has been in the world of advertising ever since.

He has worked in New York, London, Dubai, Berlin and is now based in Windhoek.

Over the years, Toufic has worked full time for international agencies such as Leo Burnett, BBDO, McCann, Y&R and as part of the M&C Saatchi network. 

A restless soul who always pushes himself creatively, his efforts have been rewarded with numerous national and international awards.

Outside of advertising, he leads a varied life, having opened and run an art gallery in Berlin, shot an award winning documentary on the Bedouin of Petra, published a photography book and exhibited his work in 6 different countries.

He continues to mentor at the most awarded advertising school in the world, the SCA in London, and is also a certified beekeeper!

Toufic’s fave ad of all time is ‘Litany’ for The Independent:

Deanna Rodger

Copywriter Mentor

Deanna Rodger is an international performer and facilitator. Recently featured as one of ELLE UK magazine’s ’30 inspirational women under 30′, she is a former UK Poetry Slam Champion and has written and performed commissions everywhere, from Buckingham Palace to BBC iPlayer.

Deanna co-curates two leading spoken word events, Chill Pill and Come Rhyme With Me, and is a member of Keats House Poetry Collective.

Thiago de Moraes

Art Director Mentor
Thiago has worked in advertising for over 20 years, in places like AMV BBDO, Droga5 London, The & Partnership and the BBC. Along the way he has created work in varied forms: from press ads to video games, interactive documentary series, music videos and many more. Happy accidents and a general lack of judgment led to quite a lot of it winning awards.

A life-long obsession with doodling has eventually led him to write and draw children’s books, which have been published in over 20 languages so far.

Mr. Cee

Comedy Mentor

Cool, Charming & Conscious, Mr Cee brings 20 years of comedy experience to the table at SCA. Equally skilled at either Hosting, Stand-Up, Improv or Acting, Mr Cee performs at various venues such as The Hackney Empire, The Comedy Store & Jongleurs and has also supported comedians Kevin Hart, Paul Mooney, Gina Yashere, Curtis Walker, and many more on their UK tours. 

His comedy achievements range from doing ‘warm ups’ most recently for CH4’s ‘The Big Narstie Show’, ITV’s ‘Sorry I Didn’t Know’, the BBC1 show ‘Blouse & Skirt’ and also being voted the ‘Best Male Newcomer’ at the Prestigious Black Entertainment Comedy Awards in 2000. His presenting skills have been seen on Sky TV/YangaTV’s Noni-Chat’.

Mr. Cee started teaching at SCA through his relationship with The Comedy School and after years of educating our students on the art of stand-up comedy and helping them with presentation skills for pitches, we asked for an encore in our faculty.

His favourite ad growing up is Hamlet Cigars – Photobooth. Directed by Graham Rose & acted out by Gregor Fisher… It had him in stitches.

Rob MacGillivray

Art Director Mentor

Rob MacGillivray has over 30 years’ experience as a professional director, writer and producer.

Rob has worked extensively in music videos, commercials and mainstream television in the UK and Europe. His evolving and varied career has given him hands-on knowledge not just of directing and production, but also storytelling, scripting, lighting, shooting, animation and post production software.

Rob currently directs and produces corporate advertising.  He also lectures in Film and Television at UAL and RCA.

His favourite TV Commercials when growing up were anything featuring the Pilsbury Dough Boy or Fred the Homepride man.  As it turned out, Rob never did grow up.

Gary Neill

Craft Mentor

With over twenty years experience as an illustrator, Gary Neill is known for creating conceptually bold and vibrant illustrations; sometimes edgy, at other times, playful. His work always begins with drawings of ideas and metaphors that explore meanings by juxtaposing different visual elements.

His work is a great example of how to deliver a message in a direct, economical fashion which cuts straight through self indulgence and window dressing.

Gary’s potent visual style is vibrant and clean and has been used extensively in the fast-paced world of newspapers and magazines such as The Guardian, The Economist and The New York Times.

Gary’s fave ad is PS4

Alan Burles

Art Director Mentor

Alan Burles is an advertising art director turned photographer and since his early twenties he’s been seen carrying a camera everywhere he goes.

Alan’s first job was under Paul Arden at Saatchi & Saatchi where he worked for ten years – it’s extraordinary how much influence that had and how it reverberates to this day.

Alan also worked at BBH and some other fine agencies and therefore has been steeped in the world of ideas for a large part of his career. With all of his experience, he hopes it gives everything he does an extra dimension.

His favourite ad from when he was younger was Benson & Hedges – Swimming Pool.

Chris Hill

Copywriter Mentor

Chris Hill has been writing ads since the days when the humble biro was the ubiquitous hand-held device and the typewriter was the cutting edge of modern technology. He’s worked at big agencies, small ones and been a partner in a couple of successful independent ventures, covering all sectors along the way and gathering a fair smattering of awards. He currently plies his trade as a freelance copywriter and creative consultant, dabbles with comedy writing, works in the music business, and has returned to SCA as a mentor, having originally been Head of Copy when Marc first launched the course. He’s experienced. Not old. Definitely not old.

Alex Mecklenburg

Life Coach

Alex is an experienced, provocative business coach, working with leadership teams, CEOs and boards of organisations who are looking to break through their own business bubble.

She has built a wonderful career by solving business problems with creativity and continuous organisational prototyping.

In her time as Global Brand Director and Business Director, and Global Digital Lead for Unilever she delivered seminal work like Dirt is Good.

Shannon Vaughan

Executive Assistant/Producer
Shannon joined SCA with 11 years experience in the creative industry and 6 years in the non-profit sector after completing a Culture, Communication and Media Studies degree in sunny South Africa, where she grew up.
She worked in Public Relations, Broadcast, Marketing and Advertising companies, giving her a broad scope of communication and relationship management skills and understanding of the industry. She also ran an award-winning diverse creative talent programme at Ogilvy UK for 5 years, with one of her key partners being none other than our very own SCA.
The 90’s South African VW advert, Memories, is still her favourite ad even though it made her cry. In fact, her family had all the cars shown in the ad, including her own first car. Guess that ad worked!

Max Woodall-Collins

Operations Manager

Max joined the SCA faculty with 20 years experience in the creative industries.

Having completed a design degree, she started out at AKQA then moved into TV production. She spent several years as a Production Coordinator in factual programming at the BBC before moving onto the Graham Norton Show and The Wright Stuff. More recently, she spent her last 6 years at Sony Pictures Television before joining the team at SCA as Operations Manager in 2016.

Max’s most memorable ad from her childhood was the 1984 ‘Bodyform’ campaign because of its catchy theme tune which has never left her memory!

Marcia Miller

Studio Manager

Marcia is a graphic design graduate with over 8 years experience in studio management. Marcia has now been at SCA for over 5 years and before that she was a studio manager at an interactive art studio.

Marcia’s favourite adverts whilst growing up was Reebok – Belly’s gonna get you and Power Pods – Football crazy, chocolate mad.

Squirrel

Squirrel has nearly three years of experience of looking after students and being really cute.

Her other hobbies include sleeping, eating treats, growling at cats and barking at the door bell.

Squirrels favourite advert whilst growing up was Walls – Sausages

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