Heckler Singapore names new managing director

Heckler has appointed Jonathan Gerard (pictured) as managing director of its Singapore studio, as the creative production company looks to strengthen its regional presence and expand its role beyond post-production into broader storytelling.

Gerard joins Heckler after five years at VaynerMedia APAC, where he most recently served as SVP, regional head of delivery and head of production APAC. He joined VaynerMedia when it was a 40-person operation and was part of its growth into a 300-person regional team spanning eight markets.

The appointment brings more than 20 years of experience across advertising, production, creative operations and delivery to Heckler, with Gerard having held senior production roles at VaynerMedia, BBH Singapore and MullenLowe.

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His career also spans film and television production, including an early stint directing music videos in New Zealand. At BBH Singapore, he served as head of production on Nike's Hyper Court, a project that brought together digital, animation and live-action content to provide basketball training resources to players across Manila.

The Hyper Court project, which involved more than 10 production partners including Heckler, is reflective of Gerard's approach to production. Rather than following a linear production model, he believes teams should be able to adapt the process around the idea and bring different disciplines together to deliver the work.

That approach will now shape his remit at Heckler, where he is looking to build on the studio's existing creative culture while positioning production as a more active creative partner for brands, agencies, directors and artists.

Gerard said the move also gives him the opportunity to return to a more hands-on relationship with the work after spending the past few years focused on delivery, operations and scaling teams.

“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.”

Gerard also sees people and talent as central to building a strong creative business, an approach he has carried through his leadership roles and plans to bring to Heckler Singapore.

“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.”

For Gerard, that extends to the role of craft in modern production, with the execution needing to serve the idea rather than dictate it. Ultimately, he said the move to Heckler was driven by a desire to get closer to making the work itself.

“I love making anything and everything. 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," he added. 

Gerard succeeds Lily Li as managing director of Heckler Singapore. Li joined the studio in June 2025 from Shanghai, where she was managing director of The Mill Shanghai, and previously spent nearly 13 years at MPC, rising from head of production to executive producer and managing director. She also held production leadership roles at SFG-Technicolor and Smoke & Mirrors Shanghai.

Li had taken over the Singapore studio from Charu Menon, who led the business for six years before moving to spearhead Heckler's expansion into Europe with the launch of Heckler Amsterdam.

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