People on the Move

Zoic Studios has promoted John Kilshaw to creative director. Kilshaw joined Zoic’s New York studio in 2016 as VFX supervisor and has rapidly shifted to lead the creative direction of projects out of the East Coast office, spanning television, feature film and commercial work. Kilshaw has nearly 15 years of experience in visual effects. He has been instrumental in the growth of the NYC office, growing the studio’s staff to accommodate the influx of large scale projects in the local market.

Kilshaw has worked at top award-winning VFX shops including ILM, Method and Double Negative. He has lent his talents to such major feature films as The Avengers, Battleship , Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Rango, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, 10,000 BC, Cloverfield, The Dark Knight and The Chronicles of Riddick. Most recently, Kilshaw served as VFX supervisor on the Netflix superhero crossover series Marvel’s The Defenders, which was released on August 18. He also recently worked on Darren Aronofsky’s thriller Mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Michelle Pfeiffer and Domhnall Gleeson, which is premiering at the Venice Film Festival and will be released in theaters on September 15.

“John has been integral in the success of our New York office.  He’s assembled a great team and strikes that careful balance of top notch creative and strong business acumen,” noted Zoic executive creative director/co-founder Chris Jones.  
“It’s really a golden age for television right now, and it is exciting to discover more spectacular ways to tell stories and capture audience’s imagination,” added Kilshaw.

Kilshaw studied fine art painting at the Gamble Institute and majored in design and photography at Staffordshire Polytechnic, working as a photographer and stylist for a short time before moving into finance. He moved on to the brand consultancy firm Wolff Olins, which led him to the film and advertising space. Kilshaw brings his experience fostering relationships in the finance world to the collaborative spirit of the entertainment industry. He has held numerous 3D, visual effects, digital effects and computer graphics roles over the years.

Advertainment studio BARK BARK, with offices in Atlanta, New York, and Los Angeles, is expanding its marketing content support of film, TV and streaming productions shooting in Georgia. Central to this expansion is the addition of Betsy Powell, BARK BARK’s new VP of client partnerships, theatrical.

Powell who brings extensive experience in theatrical marketing to BARK BARK in Atlanta, noted, “According to FilmLA, Georgia was home to more of the top 100 grossing films of 2016 than any other location. With 320 film and TV productions, generating  $9.5 billion in economic impact just this past year, I’m excited to be a part of what happens next in Georgia. “

BARK BARK has been successfully delivering theatrical marketing and branded content across every platform from Snapchat to broadcast for over 10 years, and is increasing its Atlanta capabilities, further enhanced by Georgia’s vibrant production industry and the state’s new postproduction tax credits. 

“With the boost from Georgia Film and TV tax credits, we are proud to be hiring more people and expanding our space in Atlanta to share our theatrical marketing content expertise with the growing community here,” explained SVP of client partnership, Karen Grant.

Following time in NYC working for the likes of HBO and Lifetime, Powell spent most of her career in Los Angeles, working for creative agencies, broadcast networks, movie trailer and feature film marketing companies on projects for every genre and scope. Among them, Aspect Ratio, New Wave Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox, Buena Vista Pictures Marketing, and Warner Bros in-house theatrical agency. Prior to joining BARK BARK, Powell was CD of On Air and Short Form launching Jennifer Lopez’s English-speaking Latino network to the highest ratings in their history with a bicoastal campaign led by J Lo herself as chief creative officer.

BARK BARK has been crafting award-winning marketing content on every platform via its trio of offices in the country’s leading entertainment cities. Branded content, movie trailers, TV campaigns, Snapchat, teasers, BTS, VR-360, brand connections, and marketing content of every shape and size comprise BARK BARK’s support for the film, TV and advertising industry worldwide. BARK BARK also maintains exclusive relationships with such producers as Jennifer Lopez’ Nuyorican Productions, Sean Hayes’ Hazy Mills and ITV, the largest independent non-fiction series creator in America. At BARK BARK, Powell will work hand in hand with the management team including Karen Grant and Brian Tolleson in the company’s expansion. 

Tolleson, president of the company, said, “I’m consistently impressed with Georgia. The State is wisely supporting the entertainment industry, consistently maintaining a small-business friendly economy, and keeping non-discrimination as a core value. Investing more here was kind of a no-brainer.”

God-is Rivera has been promoted to director of inclusion and cultural resonance at VML, a newly created position within the agency. 

In 2016, Rivera joined VML’s social media practice, and has since pushed for a wide range of perspectives both within the work and across the agency.
 
“There is nothing more important to us as a VML family than ensuring all VMLers have the opportunity to thrive in a diverse and inclusive workplace. And that our client partners can experience the level of perspective in our work that results from that type of agency,” said Jon Cook, global CEO. “God-is has been making this type of impact in her work across VML since the day she started. But it became clear that we needed to formalize and expand this as a new, official role to truly continue the momentum and needed progress we want as an agency in this critical aspect of our culture and capability. I could not be more excited about the role and about God-is being the one who embodies it.”  
 
Rivera will focus on enriching an atmosphere of inclusion at VML, from internal communication and education efforts to building partnerships in the communities that VML offices serve. She will also continue to stay connected to client work.
 
As a member of the HR team, Rivera will:

• Focus on expanding the foundation and spirit of inclusivity in VML’s internal culture and offices so employees feel safe, comfortable and open to learning about, considering and supporting diverse perspectives. 
• Examine and expand hiring practices--from researching diverse talent pools and sources to developing programs aimed at increasing diverse candidates. 
• Create and shape practices and methodologies that ensure inclusion within agency work and outputs.

Rivera recently led “Woke, Lit & Ready,” a presentation that explores the immense influence Black Twitter has had on American culture, for several audiences including the Social Media and Diversity Steering committees of the American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s). She is spearheading a panel on the topic at Advertising Week NY on Sept. 26.
 
Rivera is also one of three finalists for this year’s AdColor Change Agent award and was featured by the 4A’s in “Beyond the Brief.”
 
Rivera will report to Ronnie Felder, VML’s managing director of human resources.

Creative content studio Ntropic has hired Helena Lee as executive producer in its New York office, which recently moved into new digs.

Her range of experience includes having served as sr. producer and an EP at post houses such as Red Car and Rock Paper Scissors, and freelance producing at agencies including CP+B, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Berlin Cameron. She has worked with such brands as Hulu, MTV, Coca-Cola, Slim Jim and Saturn.

“Helena will be a driving force as Ntropic harnesses the power of recent achievements and looks forward to the vast possibilities ahead,” said Nathan Robinson, founder and executive creative director at Ntropic. “Her ability to build long-lasting relationships and foster creative environments makes her a vital addition to our team. We know her leadership will help our enterprising New York office thrive.”