About Me
I’m John Wilds, a South Londoner with a 10 year career in creative copywriting and a lifelong love of video games.
I’m an ideas man at heart, and spent most of my teens debating, picking apart and trying to share them. This lead me to advertising, where I found a knack for pitching and scriptwriting. After a 7 year career in house, I went freelance to see more of the industry and mix it up a bit. Advertising is the only inescapable creative medium in the world and i’m incredibly lucky to be a part of it.
Now, in between making ads, I’m trying my hand at Video Games Journalism. There’s simply nothing that has had such an influence on me throughout my life and no creative medium that’s moving so fast in so many directions. It plays with you, whilst you play with it and even for just that fact alone they are legitimately fascinating.
I’d love to write anything for you, from a fully integrated campaign for a mega brand, to a ridiculous preview of the latest indie game masterpiece. Please see my CV below and click on the icons at the bottom of any page to contact me, see my LinkedIn and hear my ramblings on Twitter.
John Wilds CV
Flat 2, 32 Durlston Road
Hackney, London
E5 8RR
07792111676
Profile
At its simplest, I’m an ideas man with a penchant for words. In my head there is no greater privilege or thrill than making someone genuinely feel something. That feeling doesn’t have to change their life or even change their opinion but when you can create something that makes someone giggle, or think, or even stop for half a second and choose to engage, that’s what excites me. I studied Content Development and Production at Ravensbourne and have worked at a variety of advertising agencies, most recently leaving VCCP to try my arm as a freelancer. My experience includes writing, pitching and producing ideas ranging from content and social activation to television and digital. Even more recently, I’ve also sourced and created entertainment journalism for IGN. I want to genuinely add something to everything I work on and ultimately, create an idea that lasts longer than I do.
Employment
Freelance Video Game Journalist at IGN (August 2017 – Present)
It was an actual boyhood dream to write about video games and I’ve now had the pleasure to do it for IGN. As part of the freelance news team I write and source news for video games/ entertainment that’s published on their global news feed. Some of these articles can be found here and my personal, speculative journalism can be found here.
Freelance Senior Creative Copywriter (April 2016 - Present)
I’ve worked on everything from TV and print to digital and content for a variety of agencies including; Grey, Mr President, Don’t Panic, FCB Inferno, 3Angrymen, Analogfolk, McCann and many others. The most interesting work from my advertising career can be found here.
Middleweight Creative Copywriter at VCCP (January 2014 – April 2016)
At VCCP I was lucky enough to work on almost all of their brands including O2, EasyJet, Burtons and Budget. I was hired after winning a pitch with our work on Budget and from there I’ve worked in digital, TV, content and print. My most notable achievements were rebranding Wagon Wheels, convincing a Bafta Award winning drama director to make us an advert and getting to work extensively with the England rugby team on everything from content to stadium branding.
Creative Copywriter at Arnold KLP (May 2011 - October 2013)
My time at Arnold KLP was spent pitching and creating ideas most interestingly for PepsiCo and Nokia. My day to day responsibilities were essentially to be the weird young creative in the office so a lot of my work revolved around digital experiences and social media. I designed a social map for Nokia, created punny Volvo Posters and created the website for the biggest charitable campaign PepsiCo had ever undertaken.
Junior Creative Ogilvy & Mather (June 2010 - April 2011)
I was put forward by my university to take part in a speed dating event at Ogilvy and Mather which lead to me be selected to work part time. However, once this was complete I was offered the chance to come back during my holidays and work full time as a Junior Creative. This lead to 8 months work whilst still at university including pitching Olympic ideas directly to Adidas, creating social activity for Hellmann’s and interactive projections for Freggo.
Other Experience
Toblerone (February 2011- May 2011)
After coming 2nd and 3rd in a Viral Competition and being placed as a sponsored link on YouTube, my team was directly contacted by Toblerone to produce more content. (Cross bar Challenge, Catch)
Skills
Basic Photoshop and InDesign
Final Cut Pro, iWork, Microsoft Office
Trained in basic camera, light and sound operations.
Education
Edenham High School: September 2002- May 2007 12 GCSEs (4 As 4 Bs 4 Cs)
Hayes School Sixth Form: September 2007- May 2009 3 A Levels (2 Bs 1C)
Ravensbourne: September 2009 - May 2011 BA Hons Content Development & Production 1st Class Degree
Interests
I’m a huge video game nerd on a bit of a mission to make more people understand and appreciate the medium. As well as playing games (and forcing my mates to) I spend my time reading, writing (which can be found here), podcasting and drinking my way around the breweries of London. Also I’m a big fan of exploring on my own and when my bank balance allows it I try to visit somewhere I’ve never been before. Japanese arcades are the strangest place as the solitary 6ft 2 westerner.
References available on request