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Heckler appoints Jonathan Gerard as MD of Singapore
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The creative production company looks to strengthen its presence in the region and put storytelling at the centre of its next phase of growth.
Heckler has appointed advertising and production leader Jonathan Gerard as Managing Director of its Singapore studio, as the creative production company looks to strengthen its presence in the region and put storytelling at the centre of its next phase of growth.
Gerard joins Heckler following five years at VaynerMedia APAC, where he was most recently SVP, Regional Head of Delivery and Head of Production APAC. He joined the agency when it was a 40-person operation and played a key role in its growth into a 300-person regional team spanning eight markets.
With more than 20 years’ experience across advertising, production, creative operations and delivery, Gerard brings a career built around making complex creative businesses work better, from production and integrated campaigns to team leadership and operational growth.
His career has included senior production roles at VaynerMedia, BBH Singapore and MullenLowe, alongside an earlier career in film and television production. He also worked as Head of Production on Nike’s Hyper Court, a project created by BBH Singapore that brought together digital, animation and live-action content to provide basketball training resources to players across Manila.
For Gerard, the move to Heckler marks a return to a more hands-on relationship with the work. “I want to shift the perception of Heckler to the centre for best-in-class storytelling, not just best-in-class post-production,” he says.
“Advertising has forgotten what made it great: that it's a collective of different ideas coming together to tell stories for an audience. You can't tell a story without an audience. And if everyone's telling the same story, no one listens.” That belief closely aligns with Gerard’s approach throughout his career. Reflecting on his time at VaynerMedia, he has described people as the real product of a creative business, placing investment in teams, mentoring and developing talent at the heart of effective leadership.
It is an approach he intends to bring to Heckler Singapore, while building on the studio’s existing creative culture. “You are only ever as strong as your people and we have some of the best at Heckler,” says Gerard. “It’s not about the tools, it’s about the person behind the tools. Ultimately, my job at Heckler is to ensure it’s a place that people want to come and create, both for our team and for our partners.”
Gerard’s career began in production, including directing music videos in New Zealand, where he developed the resourcefulness and problem-solving mentality that has remained central to his approach.
“I had to hustle,” he says. “That same hustle and drive is still needed today, especially when you're finding creative solutions to budget, time or whatever problem you're facing.”
That production-first perspective has evolved into a broader belief that the best work comes from breaking down traditional boundaries between disciplines.
His work on Nike Hyper Court is one example. The project brought together more than 10 production partners, including Heckler, and used digital content, animation and physical basketball courts to give young players access to training resources. Gerard describes it as proof that “production doesn't have to be linear” and that teams can adapt the process around the idea rather than forcing an idea into a predetermined production model.
Now at Heckler, he is looking to apply that same philosophy to the studio’s future. “Craft is matching the execution to the story,” he says. “It’s ensuring the way you are telling the story is in service to the story. And storytelling is key.”
For Gerard, that means creating a studio where brands, agencies, directors and artists can collaborate with production as a creative partner rather than simply the final stage of the process.
“I love making anything and everything,” he says. “It’s what drew me to join Heckler. I felt like I was so far away from the work and from being able to make an impact on it. So I want to blow off the cobwebs and get back to telling stories.”
