The Monkeys co-founder Justin Drape announces new venture: Exceptional Alien
Justin Drape, who announced his departure from The Monkeys in January, the agency he co-founded, has announced his next move, launching Exceptional Alien, alongside former M&C Saatchi Australia ECD, Michael Canning.
Exceptional Alien will see the creation of a global community of creatives sharing their stories, Drape adding that “we want to inspire people to see the world through diverse perspectives”.
Justin Drape
Speaking to Mumbrella, Drape said: “We’ll be announcing some notable investors, partners and talent features in August”, when the full site will be released.
Announced initially via his LinkedIn page, Drape said that the new venture combined “two things that I love – creativity and travel”, describing Exceptional Alien as a “borderless global creative community”.
Until this year, Drape was group chief creative officer at the agency he co-founded in 2006, alongside Scott Nowell and Mark Green.
Michael Canning departed M&C Saatchi in 2018.
Co-founder, and CEO of Exceptional Alien, Michael Canning, left his role as executive creative director at M&C Saatchi in 2018, in order to pursue a personal venture. Since then, Canning has taken on consultancy roles at Johannes Leonardo in New York and Me&u.
There is already some editorial content on the website, in addition to a podcast series, a travel series and some tech to come “that ties it all together, all in various stages of development”, Drape also said on his LinkedIn.
Exceptional Alien will be a global venture, not limited to a single location, however currently only a Sydney studio is in development.
Drape departed The Monkeys four years after the agency was purchased by Accenture Interactive, reportedly for $63 million.
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Calum Jaspan was news editor at Mumbrella, based in Melbourne. He was also the producer and host of the Mumbrellacast. He left Mumbrella in May 2023.
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