People on the Move

Laughlin Constable has hired Vanessa Watts as its executive VP of media in charge of developing and executing media strategy to define the future direction of client business.

“Vanessa has a wealth of experience delivering full media service to clients and pushing them to do innovative work,” said Mat Lignel, CEO and president of Laughlin Constable, which is based in Milwaukee and Chicago. “Vanessa brings a deep grasp of the media landscape and collaboration to this newly created Media EVP role.”

Watts joins Laughlin from HavasMedia in Chicago, where she led the agency’s new business efforts and worked on Sears Holdings, Reynolds Consumer Products and Valspar Corporation. Her 20 years of experience include stints in Australia, long tenures at prestigious global networks such as BBDO, DDB and Havas, and a portfolio of clients ranging from challenger brands to large national brands.

Laughlin Constable has long offered media planning and buying as part of the services it offers clients, unlike many other independent agencies, because it allows the agency to deliver the right ideas in the right context to consumers. 

As EVP of media, Watts will lead a team of media planners and ensure all initiatives are closely tied to clients’ business needs and strategic drivers. “Laughlin Constable is a combination of great talent and culture,” Watts said. “LC was one of the first independent agencies to launch its own trading desk, signaling to me that this was a team committed to delivering strong, creative and spot-on solutions to its clients.”

Editorial boutique 3008 has added Tony Rucker as post producer. He brings to the Dallas-based shop over a decade of postproduction experience that includes national commercial campaigns, branded content, 3D animation and visual effects. 

His in-depth knowledge of the technical side of the business helps him to create a seamless workflow for his clients. Before joining 3008, Rucker post-produced at Post Asylum, Element X and Fast Cuts. His clients have included Visionworks, The Salvation Army, Atmos Energy, and Mott’s.

“Tony is a natural fit for 3008. He is dedicated, experienced, and has this ability to navigate through the complexities of any job with ease. We anticipate he will be a great asset to our clients as our company continues to expand and evolve,” said Brent Herrington, Editor and Owner of 3008.

This past year, Herrington assumed sole ownership of 3008. While editorial remains the company’s main focus, Herrington has expanded its editorial roster and turnkey production arm. “As we see our clients needs evolve, we want to ensure that we too are evolving as a company to offer the talent, comprehensive services and a seamless experience,” he said.

Isobar, part of Dentsu Aegis Network, has hired Vikalp Tandon as sr. VP, data & technology. In this newly created global role, he will be based in Isobar’s Boston office and report to Jean Lin, Isobar’s global CEO. Tandon will be responsible for expanding Isobar’s data and technology consulting offering globally by working closely with the multi-disciplinary teams across Isobar’s 45 markets, and with the proficient technology consulting teams at Isobar US, APAC, Brazil and EMEA.

Tandon joins from Sapient.Razorfish where he was VP and global strategy lead, driving the growth and development of Sapient’s platform services and delivering technology solutions for clients.

Now Tandon is tasked with connecting the strong and growing technology and commerce community at Isobar while leveraging the agency’s global technology partnership relationships. This will further enable Isobar to deliver digital transformation solutions for global clients that are data-led and integrated. In the last 24 months, Isobar has made five scaled acquisitions to boost its technology and commerce credentials, bringing 1200 people in this area into the global agency, and strengthening its global partnership with Adobe, Salesforce, SAP hybris, Google, Microsoft and more. 

Tandon has over 15 years of experience in global technical design and development, delivering multiple large scale, multi-market technology products, consulting complex technical solutions and establishing and working with offshore delivery teams. He holds an Executive MBA in Strategy and Innovation from MIT Sloan School of Management and a Masters degree in Computer Science from the Birla Institute of Technology, India. 

Russell Hollander, DGA national executive director, has announced the promotion of two Guild executives. Danny Bush has been promoted to associate national executive director/Western executive director and Cynthia Tollett has been promoted to assistant executive director. 
 
Bush will join associate national executive directors Bryan Unger and David Korduner in focusing on the growing challenges of national and international representation of directors and their teams in all genres represented by the DGA. He will also continue his regional responsibility, as Western executive director, for administration of the West Coast Office. Bush will report to Hollander.

Tollett, previously associate general counsel in the Guild’s legal department, will step into a new role overseeing the signatories department, and will be more involved in the enforcement of the Guild’s contracts. She will report to Bush.

“I am pleased that Danny will be joining Bryan and David in focusing on the big-picture issues affecting our members as the film and TV landscape continues to shift technologically and globally,” said Hollander. “Cynthia has been an invaluable part of our Legal team with a deep understanding of our Guild’s contracts, and our members will benefit as she applies her expertise in this new role.”

Danny Bush
Bush joined the DGA in 2012 as an assistant executive director in the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters, focusing on areas related to representation, contract enforcement and organizing. He was promoted to Western executive director in 2015--overseeing a substantial expansion of the Guild’s Contracts department, as well as the growing Western field representative program that visits members on film, TV and commercial sets, sporting events, and local stations across the country and in Canada. 
 
Bush came to the DGA from Bush Gottlieb, a union-side labor law firm, where he was an attorney representing public and private sector labor unions, and also served as lead negotiator for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU). Previously, he worked for the SEIU as an organizer. Bush received his bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Davis and his J.D. from Yale Law School.

Cynthia Tollett
Tollett joined the DGA in 2009 as an attorney, and was promoted in 2015 to associate general counsel. Tollett joined the Guild from Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton where she was an attorney focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance issues. She received a B.A. from the University of Texas, an M.A. from Rice University, and a J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.