Mary Crosse, a 25-year creative agency and production company veteran, and director John Poliquin have teamed to launch Fanfare, an AICP-member production house specializing in commercials and branded entertainment.
For Crosse and Poliquin, starting Fanfare was a natural next step after years of working together and building strong relationships in the industry. They honed their strongest suits into a space that feels right for today and for the hand-picked talent they champion. Announcements on additions to Fanfare’s directorial roster are forthcoming. Notably, Crosse has had leadership experience as an executive producer at MONO and prior to that, JOAN Creative. She earlier was a staff EP at Mekanism and held varied roles at FCB, mcgarrybowen, Havas and Publicis. Her expertise spans work at large and small, local and global creative agencies, from holding companies to indies, client in-house and vendor-side, and within production and VFX studios alike.
Poliquin has helmed campaigns as a commercial director and directed/produced projects as an entertainment director for studios such as Warner Bros., Netflix, Paramount, and Prime Video. Adding yet another hat, he has also served as a post producer on the VFX side, spanning commercials and features.
Crosse and Poliquin’s experience working together includes stints at production companies Derby and Big Block.
Crosse noted, “After starting and running several successful production companies under outside corporate financing, it was the natural next step to build a fresh, independent and minority-owned, modern production company out of all our past learnings from varied experiences across the industry–from leadership roles across agency creative production, as a production company vendor, and in-house client side.”
Poliquin added, “Fanfare was born out of a shared belief that production should be a joyful, collaborative experience. We’ve both seen every side of the business–agency, brand, studio, post–and we’re building the kind of creative environment we always wanted to work in. One that supports bold ideas, champions emerging voices, and delivers unforgettable work.”
Crosse is an EP with extensive experience in production management and advertising business development. Known for her entrepreneurial spirit and eye for talent, Crosse is recognized for turning big ideas into reality and creating strong, collaborative relationships across creative, management, and client teams. Directors she signed early into her Executive Producing career have gone on to prestigious companies and earned many accolades for their work. She has spoken at major industry events such as SXSW and Social Media Week and has judged industry honors including the AICP and Webby Awards.
Poliquin is a director on many feature films, television, music videos, and branded content. His recent film projects include producing the upcoming anticipated horror thriller Occupant alongside Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind the lauded Barbarian (2022), ultimately bought by New Line out of Warner Bros. in a heated bidding war. Poliquin is currently executive producing his next project Coyotes, a feature film starring Justin Long and Kate Bosworth. Poliquin’s postproduction company DI Post will oversee the VFX. His work has additionally earned recognition from The One Show, Juno Awards, MuchMusic Video Awards, and more.
