People on the Move

Bazillion Pictures has brought aboard executive producer Heather Christiansen who will be the primary project management producer providing bids and defining scopes of work. She will also oversee project scheduling for the growing 3D animation and visual effects studio.

Christiansen spent many years on the West Coast before returning to her Midwest roots, most recently as a creative operations director at a healthcare marketing firm. She also has worked on independent films in a production manager role, handling multiple responsibilities from developing production schedules and negotiating contracts to casting talent and location scouting.

“Heather brings a comprehensive knowledge of project management and understands how to take care of clients through the entire production process,” said Jeff Beith, president and creative director of Bazillion Pictures. “With her experience on the business side and her background in design, she will be a huge asset to our team of digital artists, animators and editors.”

The Mill has added two colorists and made a key staff promotion in its global color grading department. Colorists Damien Van Der Cruyssen and Nick Metcalf have joined The Mill’s NY studio while Dee Allen has been promoted from executive producer of color to group director of color.

Van Der Cruyssen returns to The Mill following a two-year tenure at Company 3. He is known for work that includes major beauty brands, including Maybelline, L’Oreal and Neutrogena. In addition to his work within the beauty world, Van Der Cruyssen is well versed in long-form color grading, and together with Allen will be developing The Mill’s long-form offering as director of DI. Since his arrival, Van Der Cruyssen has made full use of The Mill’s close relationship with Technicolor, recently grading the Mick Rock feature documentary  SHOT! The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Metcalf joins the New York team from Vision On, where he spent the last six years carving a niche out of working with both film and stills photographers to retouch and grade images for the fashion world, collaborating closely with well-known brands such as J Crew, Gap and Michael Kors.

In his new role of group color director, Allen will work alongside the managing directors and color EPs across all studios, focusing on the continued development of The Mill’s global creative roster and the implementation of new color offerings and initiatives.

Across the group, The Mill now has 16 colorists--including the recently added Derek Hansen in L.A.--all of whom are made available to clients globally via The Mill’s remote grading setup.

Head of color for New York Fergus McCall said, “Acquiring and developing new and existing talent is always exciting, and these additions will ensure our continued offering of the best talent to the global advertising industry. Together with our exceptional roster of grading talent across the group, we’ll look to continue producing creatively engaging, award-winning and visually beautiful work as well as build many strong new client relationships, and cultivate existing ones. The developments to our team usher in a new era for color grading at The Mill, wherein we’ll be looking to expand on our color capabilities and offerings.”

Mark Tutssel, global chief creative officer of Leo Burnett Worldwide and creative chairman of Publicis Communications, will be the Non-Traditional Jury president for the 2016 London International Awards (LIA). 

“It is an immense privilege to lead the LIA’s Non-Traditional Jury,” said Tutssel. “I’m thrilled to be tasked with the mission to seek and honor revolutionary ideas fueled by bravery, resulting from the alchemy of creativity and technology. To move our industry forward, we need to encourage and celebrate fresh ideas--the unexpected and the unconventional--that have created dynamic business transformations.”

The Non-Traditional Jury seeks to recognize the finest and most inventive entries making use of environment and experience to get across their message.

Named to serve as judges on the Non-Traditional Jury are: Jeremy Craigen, global CCO, Innocean Worldwide, Seoul; Jim Elliott, global CCO, Arnold Worldwide, Boston; Dimitri Guerassimov, CCO, Marcel, Paris; Chris Gurney, regional ECD, ADK Global, Singapore; Guido Heffels, CCO, Heimat, Berlin; Josh Moore, CEO/CCO, Y&R Group NZ, Auckland; Karin Onsager-Birch, CCO, FCB West, San Francisco; Josefine Richards, creative director, INGO, Stockholm; Ajab Samrai, CCO, Ogilvy & Mather Japan GK, Tokyo; and Luiz Sanches, partner/CCO, Almap BBDO, São Paulo, Brazil.

LIA entry deadline is July 13. Work submitted must be broadcast, published or released in a commercial environment with client approval between 1st July 1, 2015, and July 31, 2016.

John Lux has been hired to serve as executive director of entertainment and production association Film Florida Inc. With increased membership and the greater role the organization now plays in marketing the State of Florida for production and digital media companies and projects, Film Florida added the full-time position. Lux had previously been on Film Florida’s executive board as treasurer as well as being chair of the marketing committee. The announcement comes days after Film Florida announced Kelly Paige as the new incoming president for 2016-2017.

“Based on the growth the organization has seen over the past few years, this is an obvious next step to continue the positive momentum forward. We’re are thrilled and fortunate to recruit John in this role,” said Paige. “Our organization is made up of volunteers from around the state, but to now have a full-time executive focused on Film Florida’s future and the entire industry is a huge advantage. I look forward to working with John in strengthening our role in marketing, membership and legislative matters as it relates to the production and digital media industry in Florida.”
 
Film Florida is dedicated to developing new marketing and legislative strategies with an emphasis on increasing membership and adding new programming initiatives to maximize the exposure and diversity of the Film Florida brand.
 
Lux related, “The production and digital media industry has been an economic driver in Florida for decades through high-paying jobs, economic development and enhanced tourism and I look forward to spreading that message and strengthening our industry. Our industry, with 16,000 companies in Florida and 100,000 Florida residents working in the industry, is stronger as one voice than many individual voices so focusing on membership and keeping everyone together will be key.”
 
As treasurer the last two years, Lux has helped grow the organization’s financial position. As marketing chair, he executed the Film Florida rebrand in December 2014, creating an entirely new image, website, sizzle reel and visible internal and external presence. He has worked with the legislative & marketing committees to create and deploy two major legislative toolkits, developing all aspects from statistics to style, presenting the document in a professional manner aligned with high-quality industry standards. Lux also took over the social media strategy and execution for Film Florida in 2014, which has resulted in increased participation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram by the thousands. He has also been integral to the legislative efforts, meeting with over 40 legislators and aides since joining the executive board.