People on the Move

Josh DiMarcantonio and Kristina Jenkins have joined Zambezi as executive creative director and chief strategy officer, respectively.

Most recently creative director at 180LA, DiMarcantonio has held CD roles at Deutsch, CAA and W+K. He has created branded entertainment, intellectual property and marketing platforms for global clients such as Adidas, Nike, Brand Jordan, ESPN, Taco Bell, Planters as well as non-profit organizations like the HIV/AIDS relief foundation, and Keep A Child Alive. His work has garnered Cannes Lions (seven Lions for Taco Bell alone in 2014), One Show Pencils, Addys, D&AD, CA, and Clio honors.

Jenkins, who takes on the newly created role of chief strategy officer at Zambezi, spent eight years at mcgarrybowen, most recently serving as culture intelligence officer. Cultural planning is a strategic capability dedicated to helping clients across the global agency network dig into unexpected places in culture while bringing forth provocative thinking.

During her time with mcgarrybowen, Jenkins led the development of cultural truths, consumer insights and communication strategies for Verizon Innovations, Disney, 7UP, Canada Dry, Sunkist, Kraft, Mondeléz and Reebok. She was instrumental in the Honda Europe CR-V, United, Sears and Reebok new business wins.  She headed up all trend intelligence for the agency, including Millennial themed-content. She also designed proprietary strategic tools to help clients problem solve.

Jill Frank has become the first ever sr. content producer at Epsilon, which is known to many people as a data management company. At her new roost, she will report to chief creative officer John Immesoete (whose ad pedigree includes DDB and Leo Burnett).

Based in Chicago, Frank will produce all digital content, TV commercials, pitch reels and other fare for the agency. Her hire marks another step in Epsilon’s evolution to a marketing services company turning out creative product this is data driven.

“Jill is not a typical agency producer,” said Immesoete. “She sees and understands the benefit of content delivered to data-specified audiences, which is the future of advertising.”

Frank joins Epsilon from Harpo Productions where she worked since 2005 as a TV producer, creating on and off-air promos, integrated marketing and branded entertainment content for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network and before that for The Dr. Oz Show and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Frank started her career in front of the camera as a news anchor/field producer for a local TV station in Malibu. She was also an assignment editor/producer at MTV before moving to public relations and then on to Harpo.

She also writes and produces comedy for the stage and screen, and has been featured on secondcitynetwork.com. In 2013, Frank graduated from The Second City Training Center’s comedy writing program.

Suzanne Hargrove has come aboard PRETTYBIRD as an executive producer for traditional and new media projects. She was most recently EP at Bandito Brothers where she oversaw the commercial division and also produced longer format material that includes the Pennzoil-sponsored documentary “Breaking Barriers: Mankind’s Pursuit of Speed,” the TV doc “Shaun White: Russia Calling,” and web series work on “Mortal Kombat” and “Chop Shop.”

Hargrove also directed and co-produced with her partner Mary Ellen Duggan a short documentary titled “Olla Rae” which follows a woman who runs a soup kitchen in Louisiana.

Hargrove worked extensively as a producer before taking on EP duties. She said of her former roost, “Bandito Brothers will always hold a very special place in my heart because of the diversity of their work. I had opportunities there that I would never have had in most traditional production companies.

“There are only a handful of companies capable of doing what PRETTYBIRD does, and that’s what drew me here,” she continued. “I’ve known Kerstin [Emhoff Co-Founder/EP] for many years and look forward to working with her, Ali [Brown VP/EP] and the whole group.

Emhoff stated, “Suzanne and I have worked together for almost 17 years, and she has always been part of our family,” adds Kerstin Emhoff. “More importantly her creativity as a producer and experience in long format, action oriented and experiential work is really what I felt would be a big asset to us at this stage of our company’s growth. She also has strong relationships with many of our directors here, and we look forward to developing new talent with her.”

Hargrove arrives on the heels of PRETTYBIRD collecting a host of awards at D&AD 2015. Awards include Direction in Music Videos for DANIELS, Next Director Award for Vania Heymann, Graphic Design for Jesse Kanda, and Branded Film Content & Entertainment Award for Tim & Eric.  PRETTYBIRD walked away from the D&AD with Bronze Prize honors for the year’s most awarded production company.

Ross Hopman has joined music house duotone audio group as executive producer/head of commercial music production. He comes over after eight years at JSM where he produced music for such brands as Google, Gillette, Major League Baseball, Coke, Hershey’s and Comcast. Projects he’s worked on have garnered honors from the AMP Awards, AICP Show and the AICE Awards, among other competitions.

David Leinheardt, duotone’s managing director, said of Hopman, “His musical instincts and industry reputation will make him an invaluable addition to our commercial production endeavors.

As a performing musician, Hopman has shared the stage with such acts as the Alternate Routes, Sister Hazel, Ari Hest, Ernie Halter, Toby Lightman and Gavin Degraw. From bluegrass to soul, pop to rock & roll, Hopman has been a part of various musical acts. Currently he is half of the dark folk duo Civil Brother, along with creative partner Jordan Leib (of Fangs and Back Light Smoke) who just released their debut self-titled album.

Recent work from duotone includes a new “Play with Oreo” ad, the heartfelt “Love This Life” commercial for Chobani featuring Eef Barzelay (Clem Snide), and music for Younger, the new Darren Star series on TV Land.