Crandall, Court 1965-

Personal

Born 1965; son of an advertising executive; married Denise Lambert (an art director); children: Chase, Zane.

Addresses

Office—4235 Redwood Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90066.

Career

Rossin Greenberg Seronick & Hill, Boston, MA, junior copywriter; Team One, El Segundo, CA, copywriter, 1990; Stein Robaire Helm, Brentwood, CA, vice president and creative director, 1992; Ground Zero, co-founder and creative director, 1995—.

Writings

FOR CHILDREN

Hugville, illustrated by Joe Murray, Random House (New York, NY), 2005.

SCREENPLAYS

A Lobster Tale, Darius Films, 2006.

Also co-creator of story concept of Old School, a feature film produced by DreamWorks.

Sidelights

Based on his knack with words and ideas, Court Crandall has built a successful career in advertising. He has also more recently transferred his skill for words into writing for children. Crandall penned the picture book Hugville when he noticed that his oldest son had become reluctant to give hugs and affection; the book is designed to show the act of hugging in a fun light. As the author noted on the Random House Web site, he wrote his book so that the warm-hearted story could assist "working mothers and busy fathers [hoping to] make the most of the time they get to spend with their children."

Featuring illustrations by Joe Murray, Hugville gives readers a tour of the town of Hugville and an introduction to Hugville's mayor. Using "bouncy rhyming cou-

plets," a Kirkus Reviews critic noted that Crandall goes on to describe the variety of hugs that are available inside Hugville's city limits. The book includes a hugging kit that encourages readers to pick among several different types—and degrees—of hugs, and give their chosen embrace to a loved one.

In an interview for AdWeek, Crandall discussed the concept of creativity and noted that the creative process should be approached in the same manner that famous heavy-weight boxer Muhammad Ali approached his opponents in the ring. Ali won his fights by aiming for the larger, overall goal, not by planning individual punches, Crandall explained, adding: "Most creative people could benefit by adopting Ali's approach." "As a creative director, I'm dumbstruck by how often writers and art directors jump into the ring and start throwing punches before they've spent a moment thinking about how to win the battle."

Biographical and Critical Sources

PERIODICALS

AdWeek, July 12, 1999, "Floats like a Butterfly," p. 12; November 6, 2006, Gregory Solman, "Court Crandall: On the Spot," p. 24.

Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2005, review of Hugville, p. 1273.

ONLINE

Random House Web site,http://www.randomhouse.com/ (November 30, 2006), "Court Crandall."

Ground Zero Web site, http://www.groundzero.net/ (November 30, 2006).