People on the Move

Cross-cultural agency the community, part of SapientNitro, has promoted three key executives to new leadership roles as VPs. 

Ricky Vior and Rodrigo Butori will be elevated to VP, executive creative director. In these new roles, Vior and Butori will continue to oversee the day-to-day creative work for the community’s clients such as Verizon, Constellation Brands, Converse, The Kroger Company and BMW. In addition, they will also be tasked with helping shape the agency’s future, not just creatively but also from a business perspective. They will continue to report to co-founder and chief creative officer Joaquin Molla.
 
Additionally Ana Bermudez, who currently serves as group account director, will be promoted to VP, group account director. Bermudez will continue to head up the agency’s largest accounts, Verizon and Kroger, among others, and will be tasked to help lead the shop’s future growth efforts as well. She will continue to report to president Luis Montero.
 
“Our position as a creative agency with a fresh voice in a crowded market place is due in large part to Ricky and Rodrigo and their efforts over the years. And Ana right out of the gate has shown a tremendous ability to partner and strategize with our clients,” said Molla. “This group of executives are cut from the cloth of curiosity and I have no doubt that they will continue to help us be fearless and focused as we grow and evolve.”
 
With decades of experience creating breakthrough campaigns, Vior and Butori’s work has been recognized by nearly every major advertising awards show, winning honors at the Cannes Festival of Creativity, One Show, CLIO Awards, D&AD, The New York Festival, The London Festival, Festival Iberoamericano de la Publicidad (FIAP), and more.
 
Vior joined the community in 2000 when it was founded and helped build the agency’s creative reputation from the ground up. He started his career at Vegas Olmos Ponce/Lowe as a sr. art director and at BBDO as a jr. art director. Throughout his career, he has worked with brands like Pepsi, Nike, Volkswagen, Fedex, Audi, MTV, VH1, Citibank, and Subway.
 
A native of Brazil, Butori joined the community in 2009. Prior, Butori held creative roles in both the U.S. and Brazil including at David&Goliath, TBWA\Chiat\Day, Lowe Lintas Brazil, and Young & Rubicam Brazil. Throughout his career, he has created and overseen campaigns for brands like Toyota, Ford Motors, Dannon, Colgate, Beck’s Beer, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Heineken, ESPN, Virgin Mobile, VISA, and Nissan.
 
Bermudez is a recent addition to the community, having joined the agency in 2015. Prior to joining, she was a group account director at Alma DDB where she was responsible for developing and driving strategic plans for brands like McDonald’s, Diageo, and McCormick. Bermudez also held account roles at SapientNitro and Crispin Porter + Bogusky working on such brands as Vitaminwater, MinuteMaid, Breakfast Biscuits, Old Navy and Burger King, both in the U.S. and in Spain.

The Sweet Shop has promoted its head of production, Preston Garrett, to the role of executive producer. Garrett will oversee all production that comes through the Los Angeles office, driving future growth for The Sweet Shop in North America by expanding opportunities for its directors. 

With over nine years of experience, Garrett began his career in film and commercial advertising as a staff production coordinator at Form. He then worked as a freelance copywriter for commercial, TV and feature projects before joining Green Dot Films as a staff producer in 2011. Garrett joined The Sweet Shop in 2014 as head of production working on key projects, including the first ever commercial for Houzz, as well as ads for Lexus and Walmart. He has also worked with brands Audi, Dodge, Coors, Chevy, Wells Fargo, Dannon, Houston Methodist Hospital, McDonald’s, Almay, Netflix and NBC.
 
Laura Thoel, managing director of The Sweet Shop’s U.S. operations, described Garrett as “the backbone of our LA office.” 
 
“For the last few years, Mr. Garrett has been integral to The Sweet Shop’s growth in the U.S. market,” said Paul Prince, The Sweet Shop’s CEO and founding partner. “He shares our philosophy and our goals and he’s ensured the quality of our directors’ work throughout the region.”

Framestore Pictures has signed directors Anh Vu and Marcus Ubungen. The NYC-based Vu has a background in design and visual effects. Having started at Psyop in 2007 as a designer, Vu quickly elevated into Psyop’s director collective. To date, she has contributed to several award-winning campaigns for brands like Aetna, GE, Volkswagen, JBL, Samsonite, Stand Up To Cancer, Michelin and Silk. 

San Francisco native Ubungen has worked at creative agency Goodby, Silverstein, & Partners directing content for clients Chevrolet, Motorola, Adobe, Google, and Specialized Bikes. In 2014 he turned to directing full-time and went on to shoot campaigns for Gatorade, Samsung, Toyota, and Porsche. His last short film Halloween Meets Gasoline was staff picked by Vimeo and screened at SXSW.

Both directors have recently launched compelling personal projects; Vu’s Never to Forget portrays the lives of women and children from the state of Rajasthan, India, and their fight for equality while Ubungen’s Beyond The Fields follows child boxers in rural Thailand.

FuseFX has appointed visual effects industry veterans Randall Rosa and Wendy Lanning to head its production facility in Vancouver. Rosa will lead the creative team as head of production/sr. VFX supervisor. He brings more than 20 years of experience in senior creative and management roles, including posts with Stan Winston Digital and Digital Domain. Lanning arrives as executive producer and will oversee client relations, business development and strategic planning.

FuseFX launched its Vancouver operation in 2014. In Vancouver, it produces visual effects for such series as The Magicians, Dark Matter, Zoo, Salem, Aftermath and Timeless. Upcoming projects include Prison Break and Mist.

“Vancouver is one of the most dynamic markets for television production in the world and we have built a team there that is acutely attuned to television production and knows how to deliver superb visual effects,” said FuseFX president David Altenau. “Randall and Wendy bring the experience and the drive to continue that success and help us reach the next level.”

Rosa previously served as animation director and oversaw the 3D Department for Air Bud Entertainment for a number of family features for Disney and Netflix. While studying computer science and art & design at California Polytechnic University, he was encouraged to attend California Institute of the Arts and study animation by John Lasseter. After graduating from Cal Arts in 1993, he joined the newly forming Digital Domain, eventually rising to animation supervisor while contributing to such features as True Lies, Apollo 13 and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, as well as award-winning television commercials for GM, Coca-Cola, Mercedes Benz, Budweiser and others.

In 2002, Rosa joined Stan Winston Studio, where he co-founded and served as animation director/EP of the studio’s digital production arm, Stan Winston Digital. His background also includes freelance and consulting work for studios in Los Angeles and Canada on film, television, commercial, gaming and music video projects.

Rosa called his role with FuseFX an opportunity to build on the strong creative team at FuseFX and work on the best shows in television. “This company has great talent and I want to foster an atmosphere where artists are continually challenged and clients’ creative goals are always exceeded,” he said. “It’s a wonderful time to be in Vancouver and to work in episodic storytelling.”

Lanning’s career in visual effects spans 20 years in Vancouver and Toronto. Most recently, she was visual effects EP at Psyop Film & Television, Vancouver. She held a similar post with Look Effects, Vancouver, where her credits included Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead and Noah. She also served in producer roles with Digital Domain and Prime Focus. She was a co-founder and executive VFX producer of Intelligent Creatures, a Toronto visual effects house. Highlights there included Mr. & Mrs. Smith, The Fountain and Babel.

“I’ve been a big fan of FuseFX,” Lanning said. “The company has an excellent leadership team that is redefining episodic visual effects. The Vancouver office has been producing excellent work and I see great potential for its growth.”

FuseFX maintains facilities in Los Angeles, New York and Vancouver.