• Thursday, Apr. 7, 2016
PS260 bolsters editors roster; adds Alex Hagon, promotes Matt Posey
Alex Hagon
NEW YORK -- 

PS260, a postproduction and editorial boutique, has hired Alex Hagon as editor and promoted Matt Posey from assistant to editor. 

Hagon joins PS260 from Circus UK, where, as founder and managing director, he helped lead the company and client work for brands including BlackBerry, Carlsberg, AmEx and Qatar Airways. Over the years, Hagon has won numerous awards and worked with leading directors, advertising agencies, production companies and brands. He has collaborated with Oscar winners David O. Russell and Luc Besson, BAFTA winner Nicolas Winding Refn, and many others on high profile campaigns. Previously in his career, Hagon worked at Final Cut in New York and Arcade in Los Angeles.

Posey’s portfolio spans across commercial brands, music videos and TV sketch comedy. He’s cut national spots for M&M’S, Staples, AT&T and JetBlue and digital spots for Saturday Night Live, Marc Jacobs, Nike and Chrysler. His credits include music video work for Phantogram, Run The Jewels, Big Sean and Squarepusher.

“Every time we hire, we’re always thinking about the future of PS260. Both Alex and Matt are undeniable talents whose strengths complement our existing bench and who will precipitate our growth both in terms of new client partners and new skillsets,” said JJ Lask, PS260’s partner and editor. “Alex’s extensive knowledge of visual effects, music and sound design has made him one of the most sought-after editors...And we’re so proud of what Matt’s accomplished since he came onboard four years ago; we know his highly-visual and conceptual approach to CG, VFX and editing will continue to be an asset to us.”

  • Thursday, Apr. 7, 2016
Troika hires Tobin Kirk as managing executive producer
Tobin Kirk
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- 

Tobin Kirk has joined entertainment brand consultancy and marketing innovations agency Troika as managing executive producer. The announcement was made by company founder and CEO Dan Pappalardo. Tobin will be overseeing all production at Troika’s 25,000 square foot facility in Hollywood, including the creative studio and live action production subsidiary, Troika Production Group.

Tobin comes over to Troika after a four and half year stint at Blind Inc., where he was EP and producer on projects such as an interactive music video for Coldplay’s single “Ink,” the “Jump Forward” commercial for XBOX/Microsoft, “Your Story” for ancestry.com, and commercials for AT&T, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Lunchables and Sealy Mattress.

In addition to his time at Blind Inc., Tobin has a diverse background working on the main title sequence for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo with Blur Studio, commercials for Chrysler and ‘Gatorade Billion with A52, and “We’re all in this together,’ an in-flight video for Method/Virgin America with Green Dot. Tobin spent three years with Farmer Brown working for TBS, CBS, Mark Burnett Productions, Al Roker Productions, The Ant Farm, Bunium/Murry & Endemol USA.

Tobin also worked for video artist Bill Viola for over six years, bringing Viola’s unique vision to life.  Viola’s projects included the London National Gallery, Athens Olympics, the Getty Museum, Opera National de Paris, Guggenheim Museum, Munich’s EON Corporation and Anthony d’Offay Gallery.

  • Wednesday, Apr. 6, 2016
VFX supervisor Dan Akers joins Blur Studio
Dan Akers
CULVER CITY, Calif. -- 

VFX and design company Blur Studio has hired Dan Akers as visual effects supervisor. With nearly 15 years of experience in the VFX industry, Akers has among his credits the photoreal “Become Legend” piece for online shooter Destiny which garnered VFX honors at last year’s AICP Show while also earning 2015 VES Award nominations.

“Dan has a great track record of handling both the creative and technical aspects involved in creating beautiful imagery. He is a key hire for Blur as we extend our reach deeper into the live-action VFX world and beyond. He’ll help us push the studio forward as we explore new ways to tell stories,” shared Tim Miller, Blur co-founder and Deadpool director. 

Akers stated, “I’ve always admired the work coming out of Blur and I believe in the company’s vision for the future. I can’t wait to work with a team that’s made world class work and continues to innovate.”

Akers comes to Blur from Digital Domain, where he most recently served as VFX and compositing supervisor, largely for commercial projects, overseeing the Nike spot “HyperAdapt 1.0 self-lacing shoe,” as well as spots for UFC, Lexus, Cadillac, Nissan, Kia, Assassin’s Creed, and the Destiny franchise. Akers’ recent VFX work has included films, from David Fincher’s Gone Girl to this summer’s controversial Eye in the Sky. Throughout his career Akers has lent his talents to the Star Trek, Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, Tron: Legacy and Oblivion. He's also been part of Oscar-winning/nominated teams for Best VFX on projects including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Real Steel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Transformers and Star Trek. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts from Savannah College of Art and Design.

The addition of Akers to Blur underscores the studio’s momentum in the commercial and VFX worlds, having recently completed end-to-end services, including compositing, color and finishing, on live-action projects for GMC and upcoming first-person shooter “DOOM.”

In addition to hiring Akers, Blur has brought on DP Ken Seng as a visual consultant. Seng is a seasoned shooter with film credits on Deadpool and Project X, and award-winning commercials for clients such as American Express, Coke, Samsung, Gatorade, Audi and others. Seng will provide creative consultation for Blur projects, leveraging his live-action experience to enhance Blur’s CG and animation work.

  • Tuesday, Apr. 5, 2016
Omar Quiñones named group strategy director at Anomaly
Omar Quiñones
NEW YORK -- 

Omar Quiñones has joined Anomaly as group strategy director. Quiñones, a new member of the leadership team, will be partnering with managing director Giovanni Villamar and creative director Mauricio Galvan, as they integrate total market solutions across all of Anomaly’s clients.

Earlier on this year, the agency declared its public commitment to breaking industry conventions of separate agencies, separate staffing and separate thinking that “relegates” the importance of the critically important Hispanic population. Having spent much of his career focused on the growing demographic and cultural shifts in America, Quiñones brings a unique hybrid perspective developed across global, U.S., and U.S. Hispanic marketing experience.

Hailing from CP+B in Miami, where he led the strategy department on all the agency’s accounts, Quiñones most notably led global work for American Airlines and Infiniti in Latin America. Previously at the Boulder office, he led efforts on the “You Know You Love It” U.S. Hispanic campaign for Kraft Macaroni & Cheese that earned Cannes Lions, Effie Gold and Silver Jay Chiat awards. Before his years at CP+B he was a sr. planner at The Vidal Partnership. 

At Anomaly, Quiñones will serve as a part of the strategy department’s leadership team where he will be working closely with chief strategy officer and managing partner in New York, Gareth Goodall, in addition to leading several key pieces of business including brands such as Converse and Campbell’s.

Quiñones noted, “We have reached a critical moment, both for the Hispanic market and for the marketing industry. The cultural influence of diverse voices demands that brands speak to all, equally. I believe this is the right place, with the right progressive vision, to challenge conventions and create a new paradigm for the agency of the future.”

  • Monday, Apr. 4, 2016
Adrienne Wollman joins Troika as designer
Adrienne Wollman
LOS ANGELES -- 

Entertainment brand consultancy and marketing innovations agency Troika has hired designer Adrienne Wollman. She will be reporting to Paul Brodie, Troika’s managing creative director.

Her work at Troika involves animation, graphic design, illustration, motion design, interactive design, print design, and layout. She brings expertise in Adobe CS5: After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.

Prior to Troika, Wollman worked at Digital Kitchen as a designer/animator and Rival Magazine as editor-in-chief, graphic design editor, and graphic designer.

  • Thursday, Mar. 31, 2016
Cut+Run promotes Amburr Farls to L.A. EP
Amburr Farls
LOS ANGELES -- 

Amburr Farls has been promoted to executive producer of Cut+Run’s Los Angeles office. Farls was most recently head of production at Cut+Run overseeing production needs for L.A., San Francisco and Austin. As EP, Farls will expand her sales and marketing role while continuing to lead the production team.

Farls joined the company as sr. producer and has been involved with large-scale, award winning projects, collaborating with agencies and director clients on a variety of advertising projects for all screens from broadcast to digital, social and film. She was promoted to head of production in 2014.

“Since joining Cut+Run three years ago, Amburr has proven to be an incredible asset to our team,” said Michelle Eskin, Cut+Run U.S. managing director. “She has had a significant impact on many aspects of our business and internal processes. As important, she has shown such passion for Cut+Run, and we look forward to watching her channel her enthusiasm and dedication into helping us manage the careers of our talent.”

“I’m proud to accept this promotion,” Farls says. “The community we’ve built here is special – you can feel it when you walk through the door. It’s a family of really talented folks who love what they do, and there’s a deep care and respect for the staff and clients.”

Prior to joining Cut+Run, Farls was at Arcade Edit where she served as sr. producer for three years and collaborated closely with Deanne Mehling, now EP for Cut+Run’s San Francisco office. Farls also enjoyed successful producer tenures at Filmcore, Beast and Trailer Park.

  • Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2016
Karmarama hires creative director Hutton, head of design Wakeman
Cathy Hutton (l) and Simon Wakeman
LONDON -- 

Karmarama has bolstered its creative team with the hiring of Cathy Hutton and Simon Wakeman as creative director and head of design, respectively. They will both report to chief creative officer Nik Studzinski.

Hutton now forms a creative team with Karmarama creative director Jo Jenkins. Hutton joins from Grey London where she was creative director on client accounts, including Hugo Boss and Lacoste. Hutton has previously worked at Leo Burnett and Lowe Profero, and started her career at 4creative.

Wakeman was at CP+B which he joined in 2013 as head of design. He earlier worked at such shops as Naked Communications, Iris, Wieden + Kennedy and CHI & Partners.

  • Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2016
Kathryn Schotthoefer named president of Heavenspot
Kathryn Schotthoefer
LOS ANGELES -- 

Kathryn Schotthoefer has been named president of Heavenspot, an integrated digital creative company founded by executive creative director Chevon Hicks. Known for its social and digital campaigns, Heavenspot has worked with a range of entertainment and technology clients. The company became part of M&C Saatchi LA, expanding the agency’s digital and social division M&C Saatchi SHARE, in 2015.

Previously Heavenspot’s sr. VP, social media, Schotthoefer was responsible for driving strategy across Heavenspot’s social clients, developing creative, buzz-worthy social campaigns, as well as working with some of the largest companies in the entertainment industry on social research and fan analysis, social CRM, and enterprise-level social strategy. In her new role, she will be unifying Heavenspot’s strategic, creative, and technical units to turn out innovative campaigns across all touchpoints of the digital landscape.

With over a decade of experience, marketing hundreds of titles for studios like Warner Bros, New Line Cinema and Twentieth Century Fox, Schotthoefer has a unique ability to understand fan communities and create social programs that connect with them and deliver strong ROI. Since moving to the agency side, she has worked on various creative and strategy projects for clients such as Netflix, Disney, FX, Hulu, Maker Studios, Amazon Studios, Warner Bros., and ABC.

  • Tuesday, Mar. 29, 2016
Prime Focus Technologies appoints Raghunath Mohanrao as its COO
Raghunath Mohanrao
MUMBAI, India -- 

Prime Focus Technologies (PFT), the technology arm of media services powerhouse Prime Focus, has added IT industry veteran Raghunath Mohanrao (Raghu) to its executive suite as chief operating officer (COO).  Raghu is stepping in to take over duties from PFT co-founder and former COO, Ganesh Sankaran, who is taking sabbatical for 15 months to pursue an MBA, while remaining on the PFT Board of Directors.

“I’ve wanted to go back to school for my MBA for some time now and with PFT in such a strong position I know this is the right time,” said Sankaran. “I’ve known Raghu for well over 18 years and am confident he is the right fit for PFT. I look forward to Raghu’s leadership to take PFT to the next level of its growth journey.”

Ramki Sankaranarayanan, founder and CEO, Prime Focus Technologies, stated, “Ganesh is taking a well-deserved break from the hot pursuit of building PFT from its inception in a garage to where it is now. Raghu is an accomplished technology leader in the media and entertainment space and his background and skills offer the best fit for what PFT requires as it charters the next level of innovation, delivery excellence and growth.”

Previously, Raghu worked as the telecom, media and entertainment industry leader at IBM, managing its globally integrated capabilities. Raghu also focused on worldwide growth strategy as vertical delivery head at Wipro Technologies, responsible for services delivery including profit and loss for telecommunications and worldwide media and entertainment businesses in North America, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. With his experience and success in conceptualizing and implementing numerous global operations centers across the world, Raghu joins PFT with an eye toward furthering its growth within the global media and entertainment markets.

“PFT’s breadth of technology offerings and opportunity for transforming media and entertainment companies are two of the many reasons for my interest and excitement as I take over the position of COO,” said Raghunath Mohanrao. “I look forward to bolstering the unwavering customer and people focus, delivery excellence and innovation at PFT.”

Raghu will be joining Sankaranarayanan and the PFT executive team at the annual NAB Show, a key event for both PFT and the media and entertainment industry as a whole. At NAB, PFT will showcase updates to its CLEAR Media ERP Suite, which helps media and entertainment companies virtualize the content supply chain and achieve the digital transformation necessary to compete in an industry undergoing unprecedented change.

  • Monday, Mar. 28, 2016
Kris Walter joins Bodega as head of production
Kris Walter
NEW YORK -- 

Content creation/production company Bodega, with bases of operation in New York and San Francisco, has brought Kris Walter aboard as head of production. Walter comes to Bodega from MTV Brand Creative, where he spent over a decade producing award winning, results driven, multi-platform campaigns for the network’s most highly viewed events and series, including the VMAs and the MTV Movie Awards.

Starting out as a producer, Walter worked his way up to executive producer, earning honors for his work including Emmy, Webby, One Show, Beacon, Mark and PromaxBDA awards. He brings expertise across every aspect of the production process, including digital, social and print. And he has taken the lead on celebrity-driven projects collaborating with Miley Cyrus, Amy Schumer, Will Ferrell, Usher, Bill Hader, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Maroon 5 and Conan O’Brien, among others.

“Bodega’s forward-thinking all inclusive business model, taking on projects from ideation through production and post, addresses clients’ evolving production needs,” said Walter. “They’ve assembled a top creative team that can write, concept and bring more to the table beyond executing a traditional creative brief.”

New Jersey native Walter had his first on-set experience while filming an indie feature in his senior year as a film studies major at Rutgers University and was immediately hooked on the bustle and adrenaline of production life. He got his start as a P.A., learning the ropes in a hands-on manner on various commercials, promos, TV shows and films. In 2003, he took a freelance gig with MTV Networks and was brought on staff shortly thereafter. He quickly amassed a diverse production skillset, working closely with in-house creatives and producers as well as curating and supervising outside vendors on campaigns ranging from on-air promotions to social media and integrated assignments. His work on the 2015 VMA campaign led the program to bring in over 76 million viewers. It was also one of the most tweeted programs in television history with over 122 billion impressions.

At Bodega, Walter will be working with, among others, EP/partner Clint Goldman.

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