Australian-born, Levi Slavin, is the recipient of New Zealand’s first and only Black Pencil. That’s already a major career highlight. Now he gets to add D&AD Awards 2020 jury president.

Slavin returned to New Zealand just over two years ago after three years in New York, one as global creative director of Anomaly and two as EVP group creative director at BBDO New York.

Included in his work there is the inventive The Message Podcast for GE, an eight-episode weekly podcast to spotlight the brand’s use of acoustic sound waves to heal the human body. As much as it was like sci-fi, the discovery still had to be made interesting. The podcast, therfpre, picked up on the sci-fi element, following a young woman who sits in with a team of cryptologists to decipher a mysterious message received 70 years ago from outer space.

Slavin will be leading the judging panel for the Radio & Audio category, a lifelong career ambition for him.

Slavin commented, “Being selected to judge at D&AD is an extraordinary honour. To be asked to lead a jury is truly a career highlight. I look forward to working with the world’s best thinkers to celebrate the world’s best work.”

Scott Coldham, managing director at Colenso BBDO, added, “I’m thrilled for Levi to be appointed. It’s an honour reserved for the industry’s most revered. Hats off.”