People on the Move

Moira McCarthy has been appointed to the newly created position of director of business development and marketing at The Napoleon Group. The hire continues the studio’s commitment to supporting female leadership: Napoleon recently announced the launch of a joint venture with the woman-owned art production powerhouse Famous Frames, founded by Janine Miller, and promoted longtime senior staffers Annabel Salmon to VP, executive director of operations, and Angela Gianforcaro to head of production.
 
McCarthy joins The Napoleon Group from the New York office of Audio Network, Inc., where she was manager, music licensing. Audio Network is the international production music service that works with brands, agencies, broadcasters and producers around the world. During her tenure there, she was responsible for building and developing client relationships; driving revenue through marketing, partnerships and events; negotiating licensing contracts; music supervision; and supporting the music and A&R teams in their efforts to source and showcase new talent.
 
At Audio Network she played a key role in placing the music for a Volvo social media campaign, “The Greatest Interception,” that won the 2015 Cannes Direct Lions Grand Prix for Volvo and Grey Worldwide. Her roster of agency clients included Droga5, BBDO, Havas, Leo Burnett, McCann, KBS+P, Y&R and McCann. Before joining Audio Network she was director of strategic accounts at TransPerfect, the global communications company that specializes in the transcreation of multi-national ad campaigns for major marketers. In this role she oversaw the New York office’s agency accounts and consulted clients on global sales and marketing strategy. 
 
McCarthy said what attracted her to The Napoleon Group was its ability to provide a broad scope of solutions. “I truly believe in the value of an integrated company that can easily adapt to meet the needs of its clients, and that’s what we’re building at Napoleon. All the elements are here: not just a world-class production facility, but great leaders in each discipline of our business, from pre-visualization to production, post, motion capture, design, audio and now experiential. It’s an amazing opportunity I simply couldn’t pass up.”
 
An Illinois native who grew up in Indiana, McCarthy graduated from the University of San Diego with a BA in French, while pursuing minor studies in English and Business. She put them all to use during her time at TransPerfect, but eventually her work with ad campaigns and agencies proved more alluring than her interest in languages, and she made the move closer to the creative.
 
The Napoleon Group founder and chief creative officer Marty Napoleon said of McCarthy, “She’ll be leading the charge as we create a brand presence designed to drive our sales and marketing efforts across categories and lines of business. We’re expanding into new areas like experiential design, live action production, audio post and music production, and growing our footprint on the West Coast. In the process, we’ve not only re-engineered our offering for existing clients but are generating a recognizable profile with new ones. And raising profiles and capturing share of mind is something Moira is particularly adept at doing.”
 
McCarthy is already on the case, having just orchestrated a festive event in Chicago (in partnership with her former haunt, Audio Network) to celebrate the launch of Napoleon’s new Audio Production and Post Division. It was timed to coincide with the AICP Show’s visit there last month and drew a roster of Chicago-area creatives. As the New Year arrives she’ll be deep into planning Napoleon’s presence at the 2017 Cannes Lions Festival.

Mayra Ocampo has been promoted and will join the executive staff of the Directors Guild of America as assistant executive director in the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters.
 
“Since joining the DGA, Mayra has helped to grow our organizing and expand our services to address the unique needs of our members working in non-dramatic categories including reality television,” said Jay D. Roth, DGA national executive director. “As assistant executive director, she will now build upon those efforts and take on additional duties as part of the DGA’s senior management team. We look forward to putting her deep experience and specialized skills to use in the service of our members who work across an array of categories.”
 
Ocampo joined the DGA in 2014 as a field representative, and was promoted to special assignments executive in 2015 where she expanded her work in non-dramatic categories including reality, and assisted in the administration and enforcement of the Guild’s Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement--in addition to serving as the liaison to the Guild’s Women’s Steering and Asian American committees. She will continue to report to Lisa Layer, associate Western executive director.
 
Ocampo has more than two decades of labor union and membership organization experience. Prior to joining the DGA, Ocampo was the director of government affairs at the Nevada Local of the Service Employees International Union. She has also worked in various national and regional organizing roles for the AFL-CIO, United American Nurses, and the Hotel Employees & Restaurant Employees International Union.

Editor Adam Svatek, whose work runs a stylistic gamut from comedic to emotional, has joined the roster at STITCH. Prior to signing with STITCH he was at the L.A. office of Beast (and its predecessor company, FilmCore), where he started in 2005.

A graduate of the University of Iowa’s Film & TV program, Svatek has spent over a decade honing his craft and building close creative relationships with both directors and agency creatives. His work on brands like AT&T, Experian, Walmart, Pedigree, ESPN and many others ranges from performance-driven comedy to visual storytelling.

Svatek’s move to STITCH was over a year in the making, the editor explained. “I felt it was the right thing in order for my work to grow,” he says. “I see a lot of potential in small creative boutiques that are really focused on the work, and I’m interested in projects that help make this a better world. The opportunity to do those things and make an impact is very strong at STITCH.”
 
Svatek had worked with STITCH editor Andrew Leggett and producer Liz Katsarelas when they were at Beast, “so I knew this was a place that cared about their people and surrounded them with a great working environment.” After STITCH’s EP, Mila Davis, first reached out, they kept in touch. “Everyone who’s worked with Mila speaks very highly of her,” Svatek said. “So for me, it was an easy decision.”
 
He was also aware of STITCH founding editor Dan Swietlik’s reputation, both for his work on ad assignments as well as on feature documentaries like the groundbreaking “An Inconvenient Truth.” “That film really raised the discussion of climate change to another level,” said Svatek. “It’s an important piece of work for the global society. When it came to Dan, you just kept hearing his name and hearing about his work. Finally getting a chance to meet him was a little awe-inspiring. It’s hard to believe we’re sharing the same space.”
 
Svatek launched his career at DEN.net, the early digital programming network that focused on entertainment primarily for teenagers. While there he taught himself Avid and Final Cut, and it’s where his love of editing first blossomed. “When I realized the true power of visual storytelling, I was hooked,” he recalled. “I was never that interested in writing, but assembling clips and elements together to convey a message was something I found challenging and rewarding.”
 
After a brief stint producing online content he returned to editorial when he joined the L.A. creative boutique Ground Zero as its in-house editor. He next moved to FilmCore, where he was both mentored and inspired by award-winning editors Livio Sanchez and Gordon Carey.
 
Svatek said he’s drawn to a wide range of work. His reel contains some comedy gems, like the non-stop parade of insults two male friends share in the “Smack Talk” series of “Call of Duty” spots for Walmart, or the sad-sack performances of a few wanna-be golf pros in his campaign for Ping. “I like quirky comedy,” he confessed. “The awkward pause or those uncomfortable moments that, when timed right, make you laugh. You can feel it when you’re editing dialogue that seems conversational while hiding the fact that it isn’t. And who doesn’t like making people laugh?”
 
His work in the genre includes a promo for the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards that’s a dead-on parody of “Birdman.” Starring Fred Armisen, Kristin Bell, Miles Teller, Adam Scott and Bill Hader, it captures the offbeat pacing and “one-shot” narrative gambit of the Oscar-winning feature perfectly. Another example is the short film he edited for the writer, director and comedian Tyler Spindel. Titled “Love and Germophobia,” it stars TJ Miller as a guy who just can’t seem to find the empathy for his sick girlfriend, who really needs his support.
 
“On the flip side, I’m also attracted to causes that make our world a more livable place, or to the poignant message in a documentary that motivates people to act.” He cites as an example a 2:45 mini-doc he edited for the Coalition for Engaged Education. “It was a passion project directed by Erin Heidenreich that tells the story of a school program in Lennox, California designed to give at-risk kids a chance when they need it the most,” he explained. “My wife is a teacher, so education is very important to us.”
 
Svatek feels projects like these reveal the dual sides of his work as an editor, and he’s looking forward to continuing to develop both at STITCH. Most recently, he collaborated again with Heidenreich on a documentary that premiered in November at the DOC NYC Film Festival. Titled “Rising Sons,” it’s a gripping portrait of a radical new program aimed at ending the rampant rape of women in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. “I’m very, very proud of this film,” Svatek said.

Claudio de Souza has been promoted to VP at digital marketing agency Isobar US. He will join the management team of the US agency and work to develop global accounts, reporting directly to co-CEOs Geoff Cubitt and Jeff Maling.  VP de Souza previously served as VP of business & operations at Isobar Brazil for the past 15 years. He will lead the Isobar US GM business and sit in the Detroit office. Isobar US GM account director, Ken Zendel, will report into Souza, and will be responsible for day-to-day responsibilities, while Souza will focus on bigger picture initiatives, such as driving digital innovation.
 
An experienced professional with over 20 years of experience in advertising, de Souza was responsible for managing digital advertising for some of the leading brands in a variety of industries such as FCA – Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, P&G, TIM - Telecom Italia Mobile, and Alpargatas. Over the past 15 years he headed successful operations for the agency in the cities of Belo Horizonte and Rio de Janeiro at Isobar Brazil. He also led the management of iconic projects that combined creativity and technology to create unique experiences, such as, FIAT Mio and FIAT Live Store, the only initiative in Latin America to be awarded with the Innovation Cannes Lion.