Creatives You Should Know 2014: Shachar 'Chuck' Aylon, Writer, 72andSunny

Shachar Aylon was busy solving all sorts of problems in Israel before he landed a job as a writer at 72andSunny. Like any good Israeli, he served his time in the military, working in the Air Force's Electronic Warfare special unit. Given the nature of the assignment, he can't disclose much about his time there. But it did serve as a good primer for his future career in advertising. "We quickly learned how to work as one unit and how to repurpose things on the fly to fit changing needs," he said. "Dealing with tight deadlines in small, agile teams became second nature and you soon discover that everyone can be creative, in the right circumstances and environment." After the military, he joined Saatchi & Saatchi, Tel Aviv, where he helped conceive remarkable campaigns such as the Five Gold-Lion-winning "Blood Relations" project that sought to united Israelis and Palestinians through an innovative blood donation problem. He was also a creative on Saatchi's inventive "Hell of a Job" recruitment campaign, in which agency CEO Yossi Lubaton scoured for great talent within the framework of video game "Diablo 3." Even after such accomplishments, Mr. Aylon (who also goes by the name "Chuck" -- a moniker others gave him "because my name is so hard to pronounce," he said) decided to get more field training, of sorts. Last year joined 72andSunny L.A.'s creative education program, 72U. "I wanted to experiment with other types of crafts like 3D printing and Arduino, and meet people from different backgrounds. I didn't see it as 'going back to school,' but as an opportunity to explore new skills in a collaborative environment." There, he and the team created projects like "Sugar Coated," a documentary on the Lolita subculture in L.A, featuring women and men who make a lifestyle out of dressing in hyper cute fashions. The film also gave him a chance to revisit one of his earliest creative passions, photography, and now Mr. Aylon's onto his next film, about food truck groupies. My. Aylon said the program taught him "how to be an 'independent creative.' If you put your mind to learning a new skill or trying something new, given persistence, you'll succeed. That's how I started filming documentaries as a passion project over the weekends. I realized I shouldn't wait until I find a producer or sound man, I can go out and make it happen." After completing his term at 72U, Mr. Aylon became an official 72andSunny writer and now works on Google, but, as with his time in the armed forces special unit, he's sworn to secrecy about details of that job. See the rest of the 2014 Creatives You Should Know.

Creatives You Should Know 2014: Shachar 'Chuck' Aylon, Writer, 72andSunny

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