• Wednesday, Jun. 28, 2017
Chris Roan joins Untitled Worldwide as partner
Chris Roan
NEW YORK -- 

Untitled Worldwide--the strategy and creative shop, with offices in Soho, New York, and Shoreditch, London--has brought Chris Roan on board as partner. Roan brings over 10 years of experience in media, advertising, and innovation, having led strategy, business development, and innovation at Mother US for over six years, and before that, developing entertainment-driven programs for clients at Ogilvy & Mather. He also spent his early career on the media side at the Onion and VICE, where he leveraged their reach, audience insights, and production capabilities to create branded content and integrated marketing programs.

At Untitled, he will focus largely on strategy, business development, and overall growth of the firm globally. In this capacity, he will oversee a wide range of talent and infrastructure investments, as well as developing new models for the firm to better service clients.

Untitled was founded in 2013 by MT Carney whose broad experience includes serving as president of marketing at Disney and co-founding Naked Communications NY. In 2016, Untitled expanded to establish a UK branch, bringing with it a unique business proposition to their clients--helping UK and EU brands export from the UK to the US, and vice versa.

  • Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2017
Colorist Paul Allia joins Picture Shop
Paul Allia
BURBANK, Calif. -- 

Colorist Paul Allia is coming aboard Picture Shop. His notable projects include Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders and Minority Report

Allia comes to the Burbank-headquartered Picture Shop from Technicolor’s broadcast division, where he worked as final colorist collaborating with Academy Award-winning writers and directors including Dustin Lance Black on ABC’s When We Rise.
 
“Paul has been on my radar for a while now; over the years he’s grown to become a fantastic colorist. His talent and ambition combined with his commitment to clients, makes him a great addition to the Picture Shop family,” noted Bill Romeo, president of Picture Shop.
 
“After seeing the facility and talking with the talent it was clear that Bill had created a space that was not only state-of-the-art, but also felt like a second home to both staff and clients,” said Allia. “I’m thrilled to be joining this amazing team, and honored to work with so many people I considered mentors over the years.” 

Currently grading on DaVinci’s Resolve, Allia is set to start July 1.

  • Tuesday, Jun. 27, 2017
Rob Sciarratta named sr. colorist at SIM Group's Post FactoryNY
Rob Sciarratta
NEW YORK -- 

Post FactoryNY, part of the SIM Group family of companies, has added Rob Sciarratta as sr. colorist. The post house made the hire to support the growth of its film and television, as well as commercial divisions.  Recently, Post FactoryNY has worked on projects including Oscar-winning documentary O.J.: Made in America, American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story, and season two of Master of None.

Sciarratta, a five-time winner of the International Monitor Awards for Best Color Correction, will lead the company’s color projects, beginning with American Made, the highly anticipated Tom Cruise film slated for September release. Additional recent work highlights include Blumhouse Film’s franchise The Purge: Election Year and the HBO miniseries The Night Of, as well as commercials for AT&T, Coca-Cola and Mercedes-Benz, and Beyonce’s Ghost music video. In addition to his work at Post FactoryNY, Sciarratta will continue his role as an adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts in NYC teaching Color Correction.

Prior to joining PostFactoryNY, Sciarratta was at Company 3.

  • Thursday, Jun. 22, 2017
Andrew Patterson named CTO of Cast & Crew
Andrew Patterson
BURBANK, Calif. -- 

Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, a provider of technology-enabled payroll and production-management services to the entertainment industry, has brought Andrew Patterson on board as chief technology officer.
 
Patterson joins Cast & Crew from PayPal Holdings, Inc. in San Jose, where he was sr. director, transaction engineering, for the past three years. He will sit on the executive committee and report directly to Eric Belcher, Cast & Crew’s president and CEO.  As Cast & Crew’s new CTO, he will oversee several critical areas, including the corporate technology and security teams. He also will direct and manage the company’s engineering team and its development of Cast & Crew’s digital products.
 
Prior to PayPal, Patterson was the CTO at Mercury Payment Systems (now Vantiv Integrated Payments).  Earlier, he spent more than eight years at Toronto-based Moneris Solutions, Canada’s largest payment processor, rising to the level of VP, payments software and emerging products. Previously, he was director, software development for Paradata Systems Inc. for eight years.

  • Wednesday, Jun. 21, 2017
James Sweigert joins Laundry as managing director
James Sweigert
LOS ANGELES -- 

Animation and design studio Laundry has added James Sweigert as managing director. Sweigert, who brings extensive experience in marketing, brand strategy, design, and TV and film production, will spearhead business development at Laundry. The announcement comes on the heels of the studio moving into a new creative space in the Arts District in downtown Los Angeles, and scoring a PromaxBDA Award Gold for its work on the FXX/Truth “How to Make a Cat Video” campaign, as well as launching a new website.
 
Working closely with Laundry executive creative directors and partners PJ Richardson and Anthony Liu, Sweigert will oversee all creative and production management and operations for the studio, which encompasses animation, design, VFX, and live-action production. He is also tasked with nurturing  existing client relationships and cultivating new opportunities with brands, services, and technology partners.
 
“Laundry has a sophisticated creative infrastructure, which I’m excited about bringing to new heights,” said Sweigert. “We can achieve great things with our clients by tapping deeper into the existing strengths of this company across the board, and implementing systems that allow us to become more of a strategic partner early on. I’m also keen on what the future holds for Laundry with respect to VR/AR, 360 and experiential work, as well as expanding our live-action bandwidth.”
 
Sweigert arrives at Laundry following a tenure as executive producer of TV and streaming at mOcean. Other previous positions include executive producer/partner at Nathaniel James, head of production at Brand New School, and assistant EP at Fuel/Razorfish. He’s produced notable projects, including the main titles for the Emmy Award-winning documentary “Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau,” about one of the most prestigious big wave riders, which was featured on ESPN Films: 30 for 30; IDs for the NFL Network’s broadcast of the Super Bowl XLVII between the San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Ravens, which was seen by millions on-air and also appeared on the stadium’s jumbotrons; as well as work for HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and “Sport in America”; a graphics package for the US Open on FOX Sports; and a rebrand for GSN.
 
Also a filmmaker, Sweigert has just completed producing and directing a documentary titled “N-Men: The Untold Story.” The film takes a look at the Northern California skateboarding scene from 1975 through today, featuring interviews with Tony Hawk, Tony Alva and the N-Men who inspired them. The film is scheduled for release in 2018 with Laundry playing an instrumental role in the postproduction.

  • Tuesday, Jun. 20, 2017
Nicole Koestel joins Copacino+Fujikado as sr. art director
Nicole Koestel
SEATTLE -- 

Copacino+Fujikado has hired Nicole Koestel as its new sr. art director. Koestel, a New York talent with Southern roots, traveled 2,400 miles to join Copacino+Fujikado. Effective immediately, she will report directly to Mike Hayward. Koestel brings a wide range of skills, from broadcast to digital and design, and deep experience in consumer packaged goods. Koestel joins from Publicis North America in New York where she also served as sr. art director.
 
“To have such a big local impact with brands like the Seattle Aquarium, Seattle Mariners and Seattle Children’s, and to work with international brands like Holland America and Ste. Michelle Wine Estates is a truly unique opportunity here at Copacino+Fujikado,” said Koestel. “What sold me on C+F though, was the family atmosphere. It’s a tight knit, supportive group here.”
 
Koestel has worked with clients such as Oral-B, Crest, ZzzQuil, Metamucil, Charmin, Nescafe, and Dawn Dish Soap and her work has been recognized by the Addys and One Show.

  • Monday, Jun. 19, 2017
MPC hires creative director Cruz, head of 2D Vinther
Eduardo "Alvin" Cruz (l) and Morten Vinther
NEW YORK -- 

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.”

 

  • Monday, Jun. 19, 2017
Marc Chu joins Atomic Fiction as animation department supervisor
Marc Chu
OAKLAND, Calif. -- 

Atomic Fiction has hired Marc Chu to lead the studio’s animation efforts across its Oakland and Montreal locations. Chu joins Atomic Fiction from ILM, where he most recently served as animation director, bringing more than 20 years of experience animating and supervising the creation of everything from aliens and spaceships to pirates and superheroes. Based out of Atomic Fiction’s Oakland office, Chu will oversee animation company-wide and serve as the principal architect of initial studio production, including the expansion of Atomic Fiction’s previs and digital creature offerings. He’s already begun work on The Predator and is ramping up activity on an upcoming Robert Zemeckis feature. 

Before taking the animation reins at Atomic Fiction, Chu established and built his career at ILM, creating and supervising work for some of the most recognizable film franchises of the last two decades. He helped launch the Marvel cinematic universe with 2009’s Iron Man, working to define the characters and animation through the sequel and first two Avengers films. His extensive credits also include Star Wars franchise continuations The Force Awakens and Rogue One, and the original Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, which earned Best VFX Oscar nominations, and won for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men’s Chest. Chu also has two VES Award wins for his Davy Jones CG character work. Chu will also continue in his role as a mentor, identifying and development upcoming talent.

“Animation is only as good as the creative team behind it, so we wanted someone with the right talents to grow and direct our team in this next stage of our company’s evolution. Marc is one of the best in the industry and an incredible guy to match, with a widely respected skillset and eye,” said Marc Sadeghi, president of visual effects, Atomic Fiction. 

Chu noted, “Atomic Fiction is already well-established and known for its seamless work in environments, so this is an amazing opportunity to be a part of their journey into doing more animation-driven work. My goal is to help grow an already-strong animation department to the next level, becoming a force that is able to tackle any challenge, notably high-level creature and character work.”

  • Friday, Jun. 16, 2017
Sheryl Marjoram named managing director of McCann London
Pictured (l-r) are McCann London’s chief strategic officer Theo Izzard-Brown, managing director Sheryl Marjoram, and chief executive Alex Lubar.
LONDON -- 

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. 

  • Friday, Jun. 16, 2017
Allen, Simpson promoted to creative directors at Zulu Alpha Kilo
From top left, clockwise: Ian Simpson, David Tremblay, Terri Mattucci and Catherine Allen.
TORONTO -- 

Zulu Alpha Kilo’s Catherine Allen and Ian Simpson have been promoted to creative directors. Both joined Zulu in November 2015 as associate creative directors.
 
Prior to working at Zulu, they were the team behind Nabob’s Respect the Bean campaign at Ogilvy, and Kokanee’s “The Movie Out Here” at Grip Limited. At Zulu, they’ve been the creative leads on Bell creating work for Bell’s Rio Summer Olympic sponsorship, Fibe TV, Bell mobility, and Fibe Internet. They’ve also created campaigns at Zulu for Mott’s Venom + Vodka, KitchenAid’s Cook for the Cure program, and ParticipACTION’s 150 Play List.
 
In addition to the promotions on the creative team, Zulu announced two promotions in the account team. Terri Mattucci and David Tremblay have both been promoted to group account directors.   
 
Mattucci joined Zulu from Juniper Park in the fall of 2015. She will continue to lead the Bell and ParticipACTION business in her new role.  Meanwhile, Tremblay who joined Zulu in the fall of 2014 from JWT, is currently overseeing the Harley Davidson business.

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