People on the Move

Global creative studio MPC has added to its U.S. roster, securing Eduardo “Alvin” Cruz as creative director in the New York office while Morten Vinther joins MPC Los Angeles as head of 2D.

Cruz joins from Method with an extensive portfolio in the VFX space. His work spans such brands as Coca Cola, Target, Crown Royal, BMW, Volvo, Adidas and GE. He has worked alongside directing talent such as Peter Thwaites, Roman Coppola and Christopher Riggert,
 
Most recently, Cruz successfully supervised the “Milk Life” campaign with director Geordie Stephens, and also worked on the popular AT&T “Everywhere” spot directed by Tom Kuntz. He was also sole creative director on the feature Swiss Army Man which earned Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert--aka the Daniels duo of production house PRETTYBIRD--the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Swiss Army Man starred Paul Dano and Daniel Radcliffe.

Vinther joins MPC from Glassworks in Amsterdam, where he was head of 2D, in addition to holding a variety of posts. Following a string of international award-winning projects, Vinther has recently worked with directors like Derek Cianfrance, Martin Krejci and Tomas Mankovsky on ad content for top brands such as Nike, Samsung, Adidas, Netflix, Louis Vuitton, Smirnoff and Heineken.
 
Justin Brukman, managing director for MPC US, said of Cruz and Vinther, “We look forward to welcoming them and their creative approach to the craft, as well as their ability to develop and nurture talent.”

McCann London has appointed Sheryl Marjoram to serve as its managing director. Marjoram joins from Saatchi & Saatchi where she was a managing partner, leading its Asda account. Before that, she worked at Mother, heading up the Atom Bank and Mondalez accounts, as well as new business.  In the newly created role at McCann, she will work as part of the agency’s senior management to ensure the continued delivery of best-in-class service across its roster of clients as well as help provide leadership for the agency.
 
In her 20-year advertising career, Marjoram has also worked at Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Ogilvy & Mather and Leith London and her appointment as MD marks a return to McCann after a 14-year break--when she previously worked there as a business director.
 
The agency has seen a number of promotions with Theo Izzard-Brown taking up the position of chief strategic officer in recognition of his significant contribution to the agency’s work and recent new business wins.  Karen Crum has also been promoted to head of strategy, having previously been a planning partner on MasterCard. 

Ed Cooper has been promoted to editor at The Assembly Rooms. His advancement from assistant comes as part of a whole new look for The Assembly Rooms, which recently moved to a beautiful Georgian townhouse on Frith Street featuring seven suites. 
 
Cooper has attained a huge amount of repeat business and the demand for his time made it a very easy decision for Eve Ashwell (company partner and editor behind Great Ormond Street Hospital’s “Ordinary World” and John Smith’s “Diner”) “Edward has been steadily making the progression from assistant editor to editor over the last year or so.  He’s shown real dedication, intuition and creative flair in every project he’s taken on, whilst also being able to put anyone in the suite with him at complete ease with his very calm personality,” said Ashwell.

Sam Rice–Edwards (founding partner and editor behind HP’s “Brothers” and Mumsnet’s “999”), recalled, “When Ed first started assisting me I noticed he had a really good eye for shots, both in terms of aesthetics and narrative.  From day one I was confidant he would grow into a great editor.”
 
When Cooper joined The Assembly Rooms as an assistant in 2011 he quickly became an integral member of the team and tremendously popular amongst the seven editors on its roster, as well as directors from prolific production companies such as Academy and Pulse. Cooper cut his teeth in the world of music videos with a film for Nimmo’s “Unyoung,”  Promos for Jake Bugg, Birdy & Donae’O shortly followed.  Recent work includes a TV commercial for Rubik’s, content for Beats featuring Rag N’ Bone Man, a promo for BBC Sound of 2017 artist Ray BLK and a much more narrative and story driven video for Jorja Smith’s latest single.
 
In his new position Cooper will be building on his current working relationships, growing his list of collaborations and expanding into more commercial work.  “The culture at The Assembly Rooms is creative and collaborative; everyone has the opportunity to share their ideas and receive feedback, which is invaluable and has consistently strengthened my work,” said Cooper. 

Creative production company Derby has brought Eli Ash on board as its newest sr. producer. In this role, Ash will oversee production work for all of Derby’s agency and brand partners. 
  
Ash most recently hails from Complex Media where she was supervising producer, overseeing all daily production and operations of the company’s original content, and owned-and-operated content channels. Over the course of her career, she has straddled both the broadcast television and commercial worlds, having produced content for networks such as NBC, ABC, A&E, BBC, MTV, The Travel Channel, The Food Network, Discovery Science, PBS, Sesame Workshop and Viacom. In advertising, Ash has produced a number of commercial and branded content pieces for Warner Brothers Records, Nike, GM, BMW, The Nobel Peace Prize, OXFAM Crisis Action, GQ, Vogue, Complex and Vice Media, among others. Outside of Derby, Ash continues to flex her production skills, producing music videos, documentaries and short films with friends and colleagues in her spare time. 
 
Derby represents a diverse roster of directorial talent, including The Bozzwicks, Catherine Orchard, John Poliquin, Josh Hayward, Lucas Borras, Nickolas Duarte and most recently, Roberto Serrini who earned a slot in this year’s SHOOT New Directors Showcase.