People on the Move

Zulu Alpha Kilo has hired Emily Garvey as its first head of strategy for the New York office, rounding out the independent creative agency’s leadership team.

Garvey joins from Johannes Leonardo, where she drove its new business streak over the past several years with key wins like Instagram Global, Oscar Mayer, HBO Max and Amazon Music. Most recently as group strategy director, she oversaw strategy on Kraft Heinz, the agency’s largest account, where her vision helped the company’s heritage brands make a comeback with a multi-year sales turnaround. Her leadership on the “La Dolce Velveeta” platform earned acclaim, and her team’s tongue-in-cheek insight behind Oscar Mayer’s “Bologna Face Mask” broke the internet and drove record bologna sales. Garvey played a crucial role at Johannes Leonardo leading other key accounts like Adidas, helping the brand regain its status in youth culture with Gen Z. 

Garvey previously held key strategy roles at places like R/GA, Publicis Groupe’s Rokkan and 360i. Her expertise and tenacity helped the agencies make the transition from digital/social shops to full service AORs, while winning pitches and leading award-winning campaigns for iconic global brands like Samsung and Cadillac.

“I’m so impressed by Zulu Alpha Kilo’s work and culture. Smart, surprising, full of heart. I can’t wait to bring that much-needed spirit to the industry,” said Garvey who’s looking forward to working in NYC with Zulu Alpha Kilo’s partner and chief creative officer Tim Gordon, and managing director Meghan Mullen.

“We’re terribly excited to have Emily join us in New York. Great strategy is the building block for great creative and Emily has proven she knows how to set up an agency for great success,” added Gordon, who joined Zulu himself as a partner last July after 14 years at Droga5, most recently as its CCO.

The New York office, specifically, launched a year-long brand campaign for Booking.com in this year’s Super Bowl, including a two-minute musical featuring Melissa McCarthy that ran during the Oscars. It became the most-watched Super Bowl ad in YouTube history, racking up 118M views.  Additional projects are in the works for Booking.com and Campbell’s launching later this year.

Zulu Alpha Kilo maintains offices in Toronto, Vancouver, and most recently in New York City.

HELO, a global production company noted for its multi-platform campaign work for brands such as Coors Light, Amazon, and Nissan, has made three senior hires.

Rena Kayrala joins as VP, global strategy & growth, with a seasoned history of managing business growth at companies such as Unit 9, Buck, and Park Village. Kayrala supported the launch of Vice Media in Spain, before moving to the U.K. where she developed her career as an award-winning executive producer, and business development specialist. Rena will be working with HELO founders Brendan Kiernan and Justin Moore-Lewy across global markets to identify creative opportunities and partnerships for the studio’s growing roster of commercial, film, and experiential marketing directors. 

Piper Goodspeed joins as global head of client partnerships & experience. Piper’s career spans leading roles at Condé Nast, WIRED, The New Yorker, and ARS Technica. 
 
Neil Evely joins as global head of innovation, responsible for continuing to build HELO’s moving experience offering for brand and agency clients. Evely will be focused on exploring the best applications of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, allowing HELO’s directors to break new ground on what they can deliver for their creative partners. Evely joins from technology studio Superbright where he was head of business development, prior to which he worked at experience studio Rewind (now Magnopus UK) and The Mill. Evely has been working across new technological innovations such as VR, Software Design, Real-Time CGI, and AI for over a decade. 

Moore-Lewy, founder and president of HELO, said, “The last couple of years have presented significant challenges for the experiential and production communities, but we’re now seeing a renewed appetite and enthusiasm for experiences that really bring people together in both the physical and virtual worlds. As we delve into a new realm of opportunities in the branded experience space, I believe we are well armed with a senior team that can help HELO, and our clients, create beautiful things in the coming year.” 

HELO’s latest brand work includes the Cannes Lions and Clio-winning “Chillboards” campaign for Coors Light. In summer of 2023, the studio will be launching an auction of 10,000 NFTs to raise money for the citizens of Ukraine affected by the ongoing war.

Creative studio UNIT has hired Phil McCluney as an executive producer, He will be responsible for strengthening existing client relationships and will be expanding UNIT’s offering in emerging areas of the VFX, production and postproduction industry. 

In his 20-year history, McCluney has produced commercials, animated media, shorts and documentary films working across agencies, production and postproduction. His wealth of creative and production experience has led him to work with agencies worldwide including Uncommon, Mother, McCann Erickson, Fallon, Joint, Anomaly,  BMP DDB and DDB UK, including a role client side at Deliveroo as executive producer and lead producer for Google during a stint at 72andSunny in Amsterdam. He was also a post producer at The Mill and an EP at production companies B-Reel and Dog Eat Dog. 

His portfolio includes producing for brands such as Amazon, Google, MINI, Volkswagen, Audi, Unilever, Expedia, Barclaycard, Sony, Facebook and most recently British Airways and Formula E. His latest film project was with Oscar winner James Lucas on a short film Paint the Dragon’s Eyes, an Iris film festival “Best of British” selection shown on All4. Other film projects include EP’ing director Ryan Hope’s documentary Skin which received wide acclaim, premiering at the SXSW festival, and a documentary for YouTube about their creators Zoella, Tomski and others for Anomaly.

McCluney was a founding member of the APA interactive group APAi, a digital and integrated group with the aim of implementing unified processes across the industry. 

McCluney said, “Throughout my career, I’ve always had such a solid experience working with UNIT. They are real problem solvers and it’s great having sound and picture under one roof. I was very happy when they asked me to join the team and grow their client base. I want to make all producers that come to us feel they are having the very best service, the highest standard of work possible and who feel supported all the way through.”

Ian Luxford, UNIT managing director, said, “Having known and worked with Phil for some years now, he has a fantastic reputation for having one of the calmest heads in the game. Phil’s experiences on the brand side, agency producing and in VFX houses will be invaluable to UNIT. It’s incredibly exciting that he is on our team now, and I look forward to seeing how his ideas and energy can help us expand our offering to UNIT and our clients.”

Executive producer Sara Wallace has joined the London operation of The Corner Shop, the production house which maintains headquarters in Los Angeles.

Wallace previously served as an EP at SMUGGLER in London for four years. There she worked with A-list directorial talent such as Tom Hooper, Mark Molloy, Kathryn Bigelow and Aoife McArdle.  Wallace was also integral in shaping the up and coming roster, finding director Fenn O’Meally and playing a pivotal role in developing her career. Her work at SMUGGLER contributed to their Cannes Lions Palme d’Or win in 2022, along with numerous other accolades.

Wallace’s strengths as an EP also come from her agency experience, having spent four years in New York working with Droga5 and Mother producing many films and live events. While at Droga5 she produced a live event and music video for Beyoncé on behalf of the UN, which was performed live at the General Assembly Hall, UN HQ, in front of a celebrity audience, including Michelle Obama. The event raised over $100MM for charity.

In her spare time Wallace is a keen philanthropist and is board director at the charity Rich Mix. An arts center, cinema and live music venue in Shoreditch aiming to make art and wellbeing accessible to marginalized and underprivileged communities. She is currently setting up an initiative to teach film in local underfunded schools.

Wallace has been a jury member for every major design and advertising award show globally and has won a plethora of awards across the board. She said, “what drew me to The Corner Shop is its genuine ethos of inclusivity and championing of voices previously disregarded. It’s not enough to do great work anymore, you have to care--we all need be making a holistic effort towards positive change both politically and environmentally. Anna Hashmi [founder of The Corner Shop] has embodied that spirit from the start. I’m pleased to be working alongside some of the smartest and most creative people I’ve met.’

Hashmi said, “Sara Wallace’s undeniable experience, passion and genuine philanthropic sensibilities will be a great addition to represent and support our roster of authentically eclectic talent, from established commercial directors, new voices and emerging talent. Working alongside production-focused EP Tess Mitchell, Sara Wallace adds to our development and management focus and will be a great asset.”