People on the Move

MPC Los Angeles has promoted Michael Gregory to VFX creative director. He will work alongside VFX creative director Rob Hodgson to lead creative for the studio’s advertising VFX division.
 
Gregory joined the L.A. studio in March as head of 2D from MPC London, where for 13 years he was a sought after VFX supervisor and lead artist. His most recent work via MPC LA includes commercials for Nike, Samsung, State Farm and Atari | The Witcher, as well as the latest music video from the Rolling Stones—“Ride ‘Em On Down,” with directors Mark Romanek, Adam Berg, Wayne McClammy, Johnny Hardstaff and François Rousselet.

Gregory’s work has been honored with a VES Award for Outstanding Animated Commercial for Cadbury “Spots v Stripes” and a D&AD Pencil and British Arrow for Channel 4’s “Street Summer” campaign, for which he helped develop an innovative new filming technique.

He now teams with Hodgson whose credits span films such as Inception, X-Men: First Class, American Beauty and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and commercials for Visa, BMW, Apple, Guinness, Nike, DirecTV and GE.
 
“Michael is a proven leader and one of MPC’s most talented and accomplished artists,” said Justin Brukman, managing director, MPC U.S. “We’re pleased to recognize his efforts over the past 14 years with the pivotal leadership role of VFX creative director. Working with Rob Hodgson in a formidable partnership, Michael will lead MPC’s talented team of artists, giving them the freedom to excel in craft and storytelling, while collaborating with our clients on innovative and effective content. We look forward to the road ahead which will see the release of some the studio’s most exciting work to date.”
 
“I’m fortunate to have learned the art of visual effects and come into my own as an artist amongst the wonderful craft of the UK ad industry,” said Gregory. “The move to the U.S. earlier this year enabled me to begin the next chapter of my career in the renowned American ad market, tapping into endless opportunity with continued support from MPC. I enjoy building and working within successful teams, and look forward to being part of the studio’s growth and continued success in Los Angeles.”

MPC maintains facilities in London, L.A., New York, Vancouver, Montreal, Bangalore, Amsterdam, Shanghai and Paris.

Northern Lights has promoted Tim Avery from assistant editor to editor. Avery joined the NY-based entertainment agency in 2013, working under the mentorship of in-house talent on a variety of promos, commercials and co-branded content. As an editor, his storytelling skills can be seen in spots and promos for such clients as Walmart, E!, Oxiclean, AMC, Mercedes and Animal Planet. Avery brings a collaborative approach to each of his projects, honing in on the brand message while adding his own personal style to elevate the storytelling arc and visuals of every piece.

Avery has embraced Northern Lights’ agency offerings, working closely with sr. creative director Keith Kopnicki on network promo and co-branded projects concepted and executed in-house. They recently collaborated on spots for E! and The Voice in conjunction with Fashion Week as well as a series of one minute content pieces for Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl. 

LatinWorks, part of Omnicom Group Inc. (NYSE: OMC), has hired Leo Olper to serve as SVP and managing director. A former executive at Leo Burnett, and co-founder of Havas’ Totality multicultural practice, Olper will be based in New York and will be responsible for bringing best in class account stewardship to a large portion of LatinWorks’ client portfolio. He will also anchor and help fuel the agency’s growing presence in the Northeast.

In addition, Christy Kranik becomes the agency’s first partner and chief client officer. Kranik has been a key player in the agency’s leadership ranks for well over a decade. During this time the shop grew to become a leading creative and strategic organization in the multicultural industry.

“Leo’s arrival adds a new and welcomed dimension to our team” said Kranik, who in her new role will work closely with Olper to evolve strategic client service.

“I’m excited to join an agency with the creative track record of LatinWorks” said Olper. “I look forward to this new chapter of my professional life and to the opportunity to work with Christy and the rest of this outstanding group of talented people,” he added.

In an effort to accelerate the agency’s evolution and better meet client needs, the agency also announced several other moves among its executive ranks, including the appointment of Marc Wilson to VP, strategic planning; Scott Radigk to CFO; Michelle Aldrich to VP, financial operations; and the return of Luis Guido, a former director in the agency’s experiential and shopper marketing group, to the position of VP, experiential marketing. 

“These leadership appointments, and the elevation of Christy’s position to agency partner, are intended to not only recognize the individual contributions each has made to our agency, but also to help accelerate our transformation to a world-class organization that is able to adapt to changing client needs, in what has become a very dynamic marketing universe,” said Manny Flores, CEO and co-founder.

Prodigious, the content production arm of Publicis Groupe, has hired Steve Evans and Kevin Palmer as editors, and Andrew Granelli as sr. VFX artist.
 
The trio is the latest addition to the agency’s growing postproduction team, which recently moved into a state-of-the art campus in Brooklyn’s Industry City, where they’ll work on a wide array of projects for Publics Groupe clients, including P&G and Walmart. 
 
Evans has extensive experience editing commercials, web content, presentation videos, short documentaries, promos, music videos and claymation.  He has worked with top brands including Miller High Life, Samsung, ExxonMobil, Frye Boots, Folgers, Verizon Wireless, Old Navy, Jaguar, Microsoft and Intel.
 
Palmer has worked in both advertising and independent film, having cut two-time Academy Award nominee Bill Plympton’s animated features Cheatin’ and Idiots & Angels, as well as Zbigniew Bzymek’s debut feature Utopians.  Recently, Palmer has collaborated with playwright, director and musician Young Jean Lee on her short films Here Come the Girls and A Meaning Full Life.

Granelli, who comes to Prodigious from Click 3X, brings 15 years of visual effects and set supervision experience with high-end brands and complex effects. His addition to the team has driven a seamless experience between production and post on all VFX work.
 
“The hiring of Steve, Kevin and Andrew is part of our continued investment in scaling our filmed content production capability,” said Phil DeZutter, CEO, Publics Communications North America Production Platform. “We have a world-class studios in New York and across North America, and we’re committed to bringing in the best talent in the industry to deliver the highest levels of craft for our clients.”
 
Rounding out the new in-house team are three experienced and highly-talented audio engineers who joined Prodigious in 2016: John Grant, Steve Perski and Mark Turrigiano.