• Monday, Dec. 19, 2022
Eva Serrano named global brand president of Calvin Klein
Eva Serrano
NEW YORK -- 

Eva Serrano has been appointed global brand president of Calvin Klein. Serrano will join the company in March 2023 and report to Stefan Larsson, CEO of PVH Corp., parent to such brands as Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

Serrano joins PVH and Calvin Klein with 20 years of leadership experience with Zara and the Inditex group. Serrano began her career in Europe, where she was part of the international commercial development for Zara Europe before assuming the international commercial director position for Asia Pacific and playing a key role in expanding growth in the region. She most recently served as president for Inditex Greater China, where she was responsible for leading that rapidly growing market. While at Inditex, her responsibilities spanned multiple brands, and she has experience across the entire retail value chain--product, marketing, consumer experience in stores and digital, as well as supply chain--affording her a true omni-channel marketplace view.

Larsson said, "Eva is a unique leader in the fashion and apparel sector and has proven experience within one of the most innovative and highest performing brand groups globally in our sector. She knows how to drive brand growth in global markets, how to connect with the consumer and what it takes to win across the marketplace. Eva also deeply understands the disruptive forces in our industry and how to connect a brand's core value proposition to where the consumer is going. Her experience will be critical in unlocking Calvin Klein 's  full global potential, and her appointment is an important next step in our continuing execution of the PVH+ Plan, our multi-year growth plan."

Serrano said, "I am passionate about brands, the consumer and the fashion industry, and throughout my career developed the skills and experience to win in this increasingly competitive market. The opportunity to lead the iconic Calvin Klein brand and unlock its full potential across the world is a dream come true. I look forward to working with Stefan and the PVH and Calvin Klein teams to propel the next chapter of growth for the brand."

Serrano has a Bachelor of Arts, Touristic Management from the GETA Business School in Spain and received a postgraduate degree from HKU Business School in Digital Social Media Marketing. In 2022, she completed both her Masters, Global Executive Program at Tsinghua University in China and the Advanced Management Leadership Program from the Säid Business School at the University of Oxford. In 2021, Serrano was recognized with the best Entrepreneurs Award Shanghai, China.

 

  • Friday, Dec. 16, 2022
Damien Le Castrec named chief strategy officer at Droga5 London
Damien Le Castrec
LONDON -- 

Droga5 London, part of Accenture Song, has elevated head of strategy Damien Le Castrec to chief strategy officer. He takes over the role immediately and will report to Droga5 London chief executive Bill Scott, and managing director for Accenture Song in the UK and Ireland.

Le Castrec has been with the agency for five years and has been leading the strategy team since February, following the departure of Dylan Williams. Le Castrec oversaw the strategic leadership on the winning pitches for Paddy Power and the Philips Domestic Appliances global account.

In his two years as head of strategy, he worked on transformative campaigns such as democratising voice tech for Amazon Alexa’s "A Voice is all you need"; and reframing payments from business transactions to business transformations with Barclaycard Payments "The Payment Part is just the start." He also distilled the sustainable credentials of pre-loved clothing for Vestiaire Collective’s "Long Live Fashion." 

Before joining Droga5, Le Castrec spent four years at BBH as strategy director on clients including Audi UK and the global account for Mentos and Chupa Chups. In 2015, he won an APG Planning Award and APG Silver for his work for World Animal Protection's "Before They Book" campaign. 

  • Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022
Modern Post promotes Ashley Bartell to exec producer
Ashley Bartell
NEW YORK -- 

Modern Post, a NYC-based creative editing and postproduction studio, has promoted Ashley Bartell to executive producer after five years as head of production. She brings over two decades of experience in postproduction to her role, spanning bicoastal leadership and production positions at top industry shops. Since joining Modern Post, she has been instrumental in partnering with managing partner/executive producer Charlyn Derrick and lead creative editor/partner Will Town to transform the company from a small boutique editorial shop to a rapidly-growing premium post studio. Bartell’s promotion comes on the horizon of upcoming expansion into key complementary markets.

In her new role, Bartell will continue working closely with Derrick to continue to evolve Modern Post’s big-picture strategy, including talent recruitment, as well as marketing and sales strategy. 

A Los Angeles native, Bartell cut her teeth in mix at Ravenswork and a stint in music before segueing to the editorial side. Since then, she has worked across numerous post shops including Cut+Run, Optimus, Exile, and Rock Paper Scissors. Alternating between staff and freelance, Bartell enjoyed a bicoastal work life until she made the official move to New York for the head of production position at Modern Post.

  • Friday, Dec. 2, 2022
Norn Jordan joins We Are Royale as creative director
Norn Jordan
LOS ANGELES & SEATTLE -- 

Creative production company We Are Royale (WAR) has hired Norn Jordan as creative director.  

Jordan has turned out work for clients across television, streaming, and video games. She comes to WAR from her most recent position as creative director at MOCEAN, where she oversaw AV and graphics for a wide range of clients, and notably produced a series of eight character-focused spots celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Pokémon. In addition, Jordan worked closely with AAA video game studio Bungie, makers of the Destiny series and a long-time valued client with whom she has enjoyed a nearly decade-long partnership.
 
With an early interest in art and film, particularly the works of Akira Kurosawa, Studio Ghibli, and Hayao Miyazaki, Jordan studied at the Art Center College of Design. There, her fascination with motion graphics led her to an early role at Blur Studio, with a long and prolific tenure that saw her develop lasting client relationships with Fox, Nickelodeon, and several game studios, notably the aforementioned Bungie. 
 
Quickly rising to the position of creative director at Blur, Jordan eventually moved on to Hollywood-based studio yU+co. There, she produced opening title sequences for the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, as well as the recent remake of The Addams Family. One particularly standout project saw Jordan conceiving and directing eight distinct title sequences for each episode of the acclaimed FX limited series Fosse/Verdon
 
“Each episode had its own unique title sequence, foreshadowing the events of that week,” recalled Jordan. “We got to create all the logos with actual physical materials and shot them all on 16mm. Lin-Manuel Miranda, who was a producer on the show, even tweeted about the titles, which was a cool moment.”
 
“Norn is a rare breed,” said Brien Holman, WAR co-founder and chief creative officer. “She has an insane eye for the creative and can direct the team towards the same vision like nobody’s business. But with that comes a compassion I don’t see in everyone. She actively looks out for the team and wants every person to find their place in the work to succeed as best they can. The diversity of her work also aligns with everything WAR values. With Norn’s help, we’ll continue to push the boundaries of not only the creative brief but also what we’re capable of as a creative team.”

Looking forward to We Are Royale, Jordan is enthusiastic about the work, particularly the opportunity for her to mentor more women coming up in the field. “I like being a female creative director, and I really wish that there were more of us in the industry,” Jordan notes. “I’ve been fortunate to learn a lot from other women in my career, and I really want to build on that at WAR.”
 
Another cause that Jordan remains committed to is advocating for more diversity in the video game industry, particularly when it comes to female characters. 
 
Currently, Jordan is hard at work with several client projects, including an American Music Awards show package for ABC, a series of branding videos for Discord, and developing new Destiny 2 key art for Bungie. 

  • Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022
Editor Martin Leroy joins Work for global representation
Martin Leroy
LOS ANGELES -- 

Editor Martin Leroy has joined the Work roster for global representation. 

The now Los Angeles-based cutter grew up in Belgium. Studying at the IAD film school in Brussels, he was drawn to editing and finished there with a degree in film editing.

He was busy straight after college working freelance in Belgium with emerging directors from Czar, including a lasting relationship with filmmaker Raf Wathion. These relationships took him working abroad quite quickly all over Europe, to China, South America and the U.S.

With more of the directors he was working with doing American work, Leroy started freelancing at Whitehouse Post, then in 2014 moving to Los Angels and coming aboard its roster. Leroy loved the change and adapting to the American way of working while always keeping his European sensibility.

Work founding partner Jane Dilworth said, “Martin is an editor we’ve always been an admirer of, he has a wonderful sensitivity and puts cuts together with such skill. Since joining Work he has hit the ground running.”

Leroy still works with many European directors but also teams with U.S. based directors Lisa Rubish, Reynald Gresset, Jordan Bahat and many others as well as with U.S agencies such as BBDO, 72andSunny, 22 Squared, and Wieden+Kennedy to name a few.

Leroy said, “I’ve always looked at Work with a lot of admiration. There is a certain culture there in terms of artistry and ethic and that’s exactly what I’m looking for. They have curated a truly inspiring roster and I feel very proud to become a part of it.”

Marlo Baird, managing director at Work in Los Angeles, said, “Martin is an exciting addition to our L.A. office; it feels that he’s always been with us, not only a highly skilled and creative editor but a wonderful person.”

When not in the throes of an edit, Martin has photography as his second love.

  • Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022
Erica Shalinsky hired as exec strategy director for Zulu Alpha Kilo in Vancouver
Erica Shalinsky
VANCOUVER, B.C. -- 

After an extensive North American search, independent creative shop Zulu Alpha Kilo has hired Erica Shalinsky as executive strategy director of its Vancouver office.

She joins Zulu from BBDO New York where she served as VP, strategy director and helped steer Ford’s future technologies division globally, building new brand platforms and consumer experiences for electric and autonomous vehicles. In addition to her creative agency leadership, Shalinsky brings a background of business transformation as a management consultant with Deloitte supporting strategy across public and private sector clients. Her experience extends to companies including Microsoft, Ford, Shell, T-Mobile, The Gap and Bank of America.

The addition of Shalinsky brings Zulu’s headcount in Vancouver to 10 full-time staff who are backed by 140 Zuligans across Toronto and New York. She joins managing director David Tremblay and executive creative directors Dean Lee and Michael Mayes to form Zulu’s West Coast leadership team. The agency’s western-based clients include a2 Milk, Destination BC, Save-On-Foods, Subaru Canada’s western dealers, ToursByLocals, and The Vancouver Island Ferry Company.

“Finding a talent like Erica with global experience to join our growing Vancouver team is beyond exciting. And the fact that she grew up in Vancouver is even better,” said president and CEO Mike Sutton. “Erica has spent her career turning complex brand, creative and technology problems into transformational business opportunities for global brands and I can’t wait to see the impact she has for our clients.”

Zulu maintains operations in Toronto, Vancouver and New York. The latter, which is the agency’s first international office, opened earlier this year under the aegis of former Droga5 creative leader Tim Gordon.

  • Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022
Reid Brody's ColorNation adds 4 colorists
ColorNation's (clockwise from upper left) Mark Todd Osborne, Gino Amadori, Matt West and Heather Hay.
CHICAGO -- 

ColorNation, the newly launched remote color grading service founded by veteran postproduction entrepreneur Reid Brody, has added four colorists to its roster of available artists. Joining are Gino Amadori, Heather Hay, Mark Todd Osborne and Matt West. They complement a ColorNation roster that also includes colorists Yohance Brown, Calvin Bellas, Andrew Francis and Paul Harrison.

Brody has been building and leading color grading companies for over 30 years, since founding Filmworkers Club in Chicago in 1991. “With our remote setup, we can provide the right talent for every kind of project, with tremendous budgetary flexibility and without being restricted by geography or the clock. ColorNation is set up to reflect the way people are working today, which is why we’ve been able to attract the level of talent our roster represents.”

The Lima, Peru-based Amadori has more than 10 years’ experience grading commercials, documentaries and feature films for clients worldwide. His client list includes Wunderman Thompson, McCann, Circus Grey, The Discovery Channel, Al Jazeera, and Channel 4 U.K., as well as feature films for movie studios in South America. Educated in the U.K., Amadori brings a multicultural element to the ColorNation roster and is fluent in both English and Spanish. 

Hay is a sr. colorist whose work encompasses advertising, feature films and TV. Her eye for picture and color was first cultivated when she completed a degree at the Brooks Institute of Photography in California. . The skills learnt in photography translated into coloring film, and helped her get her foot in the door at Avenue Edit in Los Angeles. She later moved to the company’s office in Chicago before being lured to Sydney, Australia to join Frame, Set and Match, where she tackled projects in film and TV as well as in commercials. Now based in Mexico City, Hay continues to cross over between media categories; recent projects include features such as La Niña de la Mina, music videos for singer/songwriter Natalia Lafourcade and commercials for clients such as Nissan, AT&T, Samsung, Pizza Hut and Coca Cola. 

Osborne is a Los Angeles-based sr. colorist in features, branded content, TV, commercials and music videos. In addition to grading projects for such studios as Disney/DreamWorks, Blumhouse and Lionsgate, his long-form work can be seen on HBO Max, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Netflix and Shudder. He’s also got an extensive list of commercial credits, having graded campaigns for such brands as Lexus, Toyota, EA Games, LG, Cadillac, Coca-Cola, Audi, BMW, Target, Kia, XBOX and Alfa-Romeo. In 2015 he launched his own company, MTO Color, Inc., to deliver color and other post services to clients in the worlds of entertainment, live events and advertising. 

West earned a BFA in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University School. As a co-founder of Mad Box Made, a boutique finishing studio in Richmond, he’s had extensive experience color grading with ad agencies on national spots and branded content for brands like ESPN, Google, Skims, Buffalo Wild Wings, MSNBC, Walmart, and Geico. His work runs the gamut from sports and action to fashion/beauty to lifestyle spots that capture a sense of realism and authenticity. 

Brody said building ColorNation as a remote-only color service has been aided by advancements in collaborative technologies like that offered by companies like Louper, which provides innovative solutions for remote color grading sessions. “I’ve been working closely with Louper’s founder, Alex Williams, and we’ve been having great success introducing this to our clients.”

  • Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022
Union and labor expert Jane Nunez joins CAPS & The TEAM Companes
Jane Nunez
BURBANK, Calif, -- 

CAPS and The TEAM Companies (TTC) have hired Jane Nunez, former labor relations VP at the AICP. Over the past two decades, Nunez served as the AICP’s expert on the DGA, IATSE and Teamster agreements that govern commercials and short-form production.

Nunez now joining these established advertising & entertainment payroll organizations is a natural fit and comes at an exciting time for both companies. As of January 1, 2022, TTC became part of the entertainment payroll, business services and software mainstay Cast & Crew. TTC joins CAPS, Checks & Balances (Broadway, Regional & Live Theatrical tour payroll) and the commercial payroll side of Media Services to make up the Advertising, Live
Entertainment and Short Form Division of Cast & Crew. Together, The TEAM Companies and CAPS offer clients a comprehensive North American payroll solution for union & non-union crew, talent, print models and freelance agency creatives, as well as advertising business affairs and performer union
signatory support. Clients also have access to online onboarding & timecard platforms, production
accounting software and the full Showbiz software suite.

“After twenty-three years at AICP, this is a big and exciting change for me. I have always respected CAPS and TEAM and the really smart people I have dealt with at both companies. Joining them as they come together in this new Cast & Crew division is great. I look forward to this next step,” said Nunez.

“Jane is a tremendous addition to our collective team of experts. The strength of CAPS and TTC coming together under Cast & Crew positions this division to support every aspect of commercial production from the concept stage through ongoing use of the spot. We have a brilliant group whose industry knowledge is second to none and Jane fits with that perfectly,” noted Greg Smith, president of the Advertising, Live Entertainment and Short Form Division, Cast & Crew.

Nunez will work closely with Marketing & Client Services on enhancing the content of established educational programs, materials and software as well as supporting the commercial production payroll operations departments internally and with inquiries from clients.

  • Saturday, Nov. 12, 2022
Sharon Kamra joins Material as chief people officer
Sharon Kamra
LOS ANGELES -- 

Global customer experience company Material has named Sharon Kamra as its first chief people officer. Kamra assumes responsibility for Material’s overall people experience and operations, including recruiting, compensation, benefits, and learning and development. Kamra will report to chief operating officer Laurie MacLaren.

With Kamra’s arrival, Material has renamed its talent team as the People Team. COO MacLaren said, “It signals our commitment to and focus on supporting the whole person and their value beyond the skills they bring to their job.” She continued, “Sharon’s track record shaping values-driven workplaces combined with Material’s strength in continuous learning and actionable human insights are powerful ingredients for delivering a highly relevant and differentiated employment proposition.” 

Kamra built her career at Sapient and its iterations including SapientNitro, SapientRazorfish, and Publicis Sapient as chief people officer, leading recruiting and workforce planning, among other roles. During her tenure, the company grew from 5,000 to 20,000 employees with Kamra focused on creating a nurturing culture and people experience to more powerfully enable its rapid growth. On her watch, turnover rates were consistently lower than the industry average. She started her career at Ultradata as a project manager and went on to hold client-facing roles in the customer experience space for a decade before transitioning into the people function.

Kamra will be based in Chicago. Material is a global strategy, insights, design, and technology partner to companies striving for true customer centricity and ongoing relevance in a digital first, customer-led world. By leveraging proprietary, science-based tools that enable human understanding, Material informs and creates customer-centric business models and experiences plus deploy measurement systems--to build transformational relationships between businesses and the people they serve

  • Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022
Adidas appoints boss of rival Puma as CEO after Ye fallout
Puma CEO Bjorn Gulden attends the 2019 Footwear News Achievement Awards at the IAC Building on Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2019, in New York. Adidas has appointed Gulden , as its new chief executive, and he will take over the German sportswear brand in January as the company weathers the fallout from its split with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
BERLIN (AP) -- 

Adidas has appointed Bjørn Gulden, the CEO of rival Puma, as its new chief executive, and he will take over the German sportswear brand in January as the company weathers the fallout from its split with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West.

Gulden will replace Kasper Rorsted, Adidas' CEO since 2016, whose departure was announced in August. Adidas said at the time that Rorsted would hand over the reins during the course of next year but said on Tuesday that he and the supervisory board "mutually agreed" that he will step down and leave the company Friday.

Chief Financial Officer Harm Ohlmeyer will head Adidas until the end of the year. He takes the helm temporarily after the company ended a partnership with Ye late last month amid mounting outcry over the rapper's offensive and antisemitic remarks.

Adidas, which followed other companies in cutting ties with Ye, is expected to take a hit of up to 250 million euros (dollars) to its net income this year from the decision to immediately stop production of its line of Yeezy products and is left searching for another star to help it compete with ever-larger rival Nike.

Gulden, a 57-year-old Norwegian who was once a professional soccer and handball player, has been Puma's CEO since 2013. He has worked at Adidas before and was its senior vice president of apparel and accessories from 1992 to 1999.

He also has served as CEO of Danish jewelry brand Pandora, managing director of footwear retailer Deichmann and president of Rack Room Shoes and is board chairman at Danish food retailer Salling Group.

Gulden "knows the industry extremely well and draws on a rich network in sport and retail," Adidas supervisory board chairman Thomas Rabe said in a statement.

"As CEO of Puma, he reinvigorated the brand and led the company to record results," Rabe said, adding that the Adidas board "is convinced that Bjørn Gulden will head Adidas into a new era of strength and is looking very much forward to a successful cooperation."

Puma, which like Adidas is based in the southern German town of Herzogenaurach, said its chief commercial officer, Arne Freundt, will replace Gulden as its CEO.

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