BMF’s chief creative officer Alex Derwin and The Monkeys’ chief strategy officer Hugh Munro have left their posts to launch the market’s latest creative indie: Rick Barry.
Mediaweek broke the news of Derwin’s departure from BMF and intention to launch his own shop in April. He was with BMF for almost nine years, joining in 2015 as a creative director, and working his way up to executive creative director, then chief creative officer.
Munro also joined BMF in 2015 as planning director. At the end of that year, he was promoted to head of planning, and stayed until 2018, when he moved to The Monkeys as business strategy director. Munro became The Monkeys’ head of planning in 2019, and was promoted to CSO at the end of 2022.
The pair said they’ll speak further about Rick Barry’s creation and ambitions once they have launched their first work. The agency’s LinkedIn page describes the agency as “Unorthodox. Effective.”
“Yo soy Rick Barry. Tú eres Rick Barry. Wir sind Rick Barry,” the page’s description reads, translating from Spanish to “I am Rick Barry. You are Rick Barry. We are Rick Barry.”
Rick Barry is the latest in a string of recent agency launches: Last week, it was Cam Blackley and Emily Taylor‘s Bureau of Everything, the week before ex-Bullfrog partners’ Pembleton. This year, Ryan O’Connell and John Marshall also set up jnr, and Hawke’s Brewing Co’s founders and former Droga5 creatives launched The Ministry for Communication & The Arts.
The independent creative landscape has exploded across the past few years, led by former holding co execs. There’s Chris Howatson‘s Howatson+Co; Jaimes Leggett‘s Today the Brave; Justin Hind‘s Reunion; Laura Aldington, Simone Gupta, and Jon Austin‘s Supermassive; Pete Bosilkovski‘s It’s Friday.
BMF CEO Steve McArdle told Mediaweek of Derwin’s desire to go out on his own: “He’s got an itch he needs to scratch, and we respect the bravery and belief that takes, so we’re excited for him as he embarks on that next adventure.”
BMF is yet to announce Derwin’s replacement, but had already “started conversations with some of the best creative leaders in the business” in April.