People on the Move

Erica Jacquez will join the Directors Guild of America (DGA) as executive in charge of government affairs later this month. 

Russell Hollander, associate national executive director of the DGA, said of Jacquez, “Her deep experience in government affairs and in D.C. will be a significant asset in advocating for our members on the critical policy issues that impact their work and economic and creative rights. We look forward to putting her expertise to use on behalf of our membership.”

Jacquez will be responsible for the Guild’s federal legislative and governmental work, and will serve as an advocate for the DGA and its members on key issues such as intellectual property, copyright and anti-piracy protections; federal and state incentives for runaway film and television production; and issues relating to the protection of DGA members’ creative and economic rights. Jacquez will also coordinate and manage the work of the DGA Political Action Committee (PAC) and DGA PAC Leadership Council. 
 
Jacquez comes on board following the retirement of longtime government affairs executive Kathy Garmezy. Jacquez joins the Guild from AltaMed Health Services--a network of community health care providers for underserved communities throughout Southern California--where she was associate VP of government relations. In Washington D.C., she served as a legislative analyst at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and prior to that as a Congressional relations officer at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development. Earlier in her career Jacquez was the main community liaison for Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina.
 
Jacquez received both her doctorate in policy, planning and development, and M.P.A. from the University of Southern California. She earned her B.A. in criminal justice from California State University, Fullerton. She is also a graduate of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government’s Executive Leadership Program.

Creative editors Lisa Mogol, Cindy Nielsen, Christopher Pensiero and Bryan Wetzel have joined the commercial roster of Bikini Edit. 

Mogol was previously at Moondog Editorial, and prior to that, Company X and Mad River Post. Well known for breakthrough extended-length projects for Ralph Lauren, Sports Illustrated and Vault Soda, Mogol also has to her credit the feature film “Sting: When the Last Ship Sails” and music videos for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Hopewell and Travis. Her short-form reel spans from the epic to the very personal, serving brands such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Folgers, Jif, Jockey, Michael Kors, Pepsi and Smuckers in the past year alone--including three separate campaigns for major Olympic sponsors in 2016.

Nielsen’s earlier staff positions at Homestead Editorial and Chinagraph Editorial helped perfect her craft on numerous prominent campaigns. Before beginning her freelance career in 2007, she had already cut campaigns for Claritin, Dove, Hershey’s, Maybelline and Philips (Cannes Gold Cyber Lion winner, Effie Gold and Silver Award winner, among many others) via agencies Euro, Gotham, Ogilvy, Rapp Collins, Tribal Worldwide, Y&R and more. In 2010, Nielsen launched Eye Candy Edit in partnership with Pensiero, who is her husband. Nielsen freelanced via Eye Candy.

Another NYC-based editor who came into his own at Chinagraph Editorial, Pensiero also focused on editing during his seven years with the company, which followed many years of production work on feature films. Spreading his wings as a freelance editor in 2006, Pensiero landed at the aforementioned Eye Candy Edit. He has cut assorted notable commercials over the past decade, and among his long-form credits are the documentary Swing State Ohio and the narrative features 12 and Holding, Hounddog and AWOL.

Freelancing over the past several years, Wetzel has been active in commercials and documentary fare. His most recent spot credits include campaigns for Comcast, IBM, Lowes, Starburst, Tide, UPS, Verizon FIOS and Wendy’s. His ongoing documentary work for the ALS Foundation also stands out among Wetzel’s many passion projects.

Bikini Edit was founded by editor/owner Avi Oron in 1990. The studio launched in 2016 the SITE 57 gallery program creating public showing opportunities for a diverse range of artist while enhancing Bikini’s environment for creative work. SITE 57 is housed in a 1,400 square foot storefront gallery adjacent to the Bikini Edit offices in NYC. Cary Flaum is EP of Bikini Edit.

Outpost VFX has added visual effects producer Sarah Mooney to its team. She relocates to the U.K. seaside community of Bournemouth from London where she was line producer in Double Negative’s TV department.

Mooney’s tenure at Outpost VFX commences with ITV Studios upcoming four part thriller Bancroft. The drama written by Kate Brooke (Mr Selfridge, Ice Cream Girls, The Making of a Lady) is currently filming on location in and around Bolton and the North West. Outpost will be working with producer Phil Collinson (Midwinter of the Spirit, Coronation Street, Dr Who) and director John Hayes (Vera, Home Fires) on Bancroft which will explore what happens when long buried, heinous crimes, come back to haunt us.

Danny Duke, Outpost VFX managing director, said, “Sarah will be using her expertise and particular understanding of TV VFX to help grow Outpost’s work in this field. Her specific knowledge and experience in this area will be invaluable as we expand and take on a growing number of exciting projects.”

Hailing from Dublin, Mooney started out as a freelance offline editor working on corporate and heritage projects. From there she moved to Canada and spent seven years working at a variety of production companies as a postproduction supervisor delivering projects for broadcasters such as Nat Geo, History, Disney and PBS.

Mooney’s credits include Game of Thrones (HBO), Ripper Street (BBC), Emerald City (NBC), Fungus The Bogeyman (Sky) and Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot (BBC).

Virtual reality production studio Scenic has named Jarrard Cole as its new VP of content. Cole will be producing and directing original VR content and developing VR series in conjunction with the studio’s collective of documentary filmmakers and creators. Cole is an Emmy-nominated director and veteran of VR and interactive video, who launched and oversaw the Wall Street Journal’s virtual reality storytelling unit. 

Scenic is hiring Cole after a successful partnership on three VR documentaries created for WSJ, on which Cole served as executive producer. Cole said, “The team at Scenic loves what I love: using new technology to tell superb stories.”

Scenic creative director/CEO Gary Hustwit said, “Jarrard is a huge addition to our team. He brings the technical experience, narrative chops, and original ideas that are essential to creating compelling virtual reality experiences. The VR industry is in dire need of more high quality content, and Scenic is expanding to keep up with that demand.”

Scenic is a collective of documentary filmmakers and visual artists exploring new directions in non-fiction storytelling. The studio covers a wide range of topics in art, culture, design and music with cinematic VR and 360° video to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling. Creators include acclaimed documentary filmmakers Amir Bar-Lev, Marshall Curry, Jessica Edwards, Heidi Ewing & Rachel Grady, Liz Garbus, Sam Green, Dawn Porter, and visual artist Lucy Raven. 

The studio’s current slate of original VR projects includes This Is What The Future Looked Like (directors Green and Hustwit), which had its world premiere at the 2017 True/False Film Festival and will be exhibited at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival; The Fastest Ride (director Edwards), which is also exhibiting at the 2017 Hot Docs Film Festival; and Funeral For A 747 (director Curry) which is available exclusively on the WSJ Google Daydream app.

Scenic is currently in production on a VR documentary series pilot from Ewing & Grady, among other new projects, and collaborations with leading art and media partners.