Tribute: Ringan Ledwidge

Widely regarded as one of the greatest in the industry, Ringan Ledwidge was a leading, creatively influential commercial director and co-founder of venerable production house Rattling Stick.

Ringan graduated from London’s Ravensbourne School of Design and began working as a photojournalist in the Middle East. In 1999 he moved into directing and quickly made his mark.

Ledwidge went on to direct hugely popular commercials for Lynx, Adidas, Nike, the COI and Coke, picking up awards at D&AD, British Arrows and Cannes.

In May of 2006 Ledwidge joined forces with Daniel Kleinman and Johnnie Frankel and Rattling Stick was born. Here Ringan directed campaigns for Sainsbury’s, Britvic, Hovis, John Lewis, Puma, Axe, Barnardo’s and The Guardian to name a few, and has received further awards at British Arrows, D&AD and Cannes including the coveted Grand Prix.
Over the ensuing years he continued to turn out stellar work and gain award recognition. Among the highlights were lauded films for The Guardian, Nike and Sainsbury’s.
In 2016 Ledwidge joined forces with Massive Attack, directing the haunting music video for “Voodoo In My Blood” featuring Rosamund Pike.

In the last few years he continued to make commercials which sent waves around the awards circuit: most notably for Jose Cuervo and Audi. For the latter brand, “Clowns” received assorted honors, including gold at the Andys, Creative Circle, British Arrows and Cannes Lions. Audi “Duel” which aired during the 2016 presidential debates also garnered numerous awards including a Gold for Direction at the 2017 AICP awards. In 2019 Ledwidge directed two hugely successful Super Bowl ads for Olay and Audi, and his 2020 films for Allstate and Bank of America were highly praised as well.

Ringan’s ethos of honesty and pure simplicity are evident throughout his body of work, and his love of the craft can be felt in each of his films. That passion and openness were not limited to his filmmaking, however. While a massive influence and voice in the industry, he was also universally loved as a peer, collaborator, mentor, and friend.

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