Mino Jarjoura has joined Pulse Films as global president, commercials and music videos.
Jarjoura has spent much of his career working with some of the most inspiring minds in film and advertising. He joins Pulse with a track record of successful creative projects, and event-based advertising. He has produced and/or executive produced over 40 Super Bowl commercials, and garnered an Academy Award nomination for his work producing long-time friend Bryan Buckley’s short film, Asad, featuring an all-Somali refugee cast. The project was also lauded by Archbishop Desmond Tutu for its profound impact on collective understanding.
Based in Los Angeles, Jarjoura is charged with leading Pulse’s world class commercial and music video international teams. With a focus centered around supporting the company’s global director roster, and building a new growth strategy, he will also continue to uphold and evolve the Pulse Films legacy of undertaking productions of all sizes, creating premium content with bold visuals.
With over 23 years in the industry, Jarjoura has led numerous productions ranging from impactful activism-driven work to blockbuster event advertising amassing a multitude of awards and accolades, including Cannes Lions, Emmy recognition and the aforementioned Oscar nomination. Most recently, Jarjoura served as managing director at Hungry Man, his roost for 17 years.
Jarjoura said, “I am joining Pulse at such a rousing and pivotal moment. I am very excited to take the reins; collaborating with our incredibly talented directors and our seasoned producers to shape the brand’s evolution. I’ve long admired the architecture of Pulse Films; with self-standing scripted, non-fiction, music video and commercial business units there is so much to offer beyond what a traditional production company does for both their clients and talent. Our intention is to represent, develop and support filmmakers across all our formats, bolstering the continued diversity of offering while fostering further innovation, creativity, and standout moments of culture.”
Across the division, Pulse Films have made other organizational changes to strengthen the team and their creative offerings. Reporting into Jarjoura, London based Jamie Walker and Chris Harrison, who take on new roles as co-managing directors, leading the commercials team in the UK, while Rik Green is promoted to global head of music videos. Head of new business Jack Smith, executive producer Nnena Nwakodo and sr. executive producer Casey Engelhardt will all continue to work closely with director talent and leadership to keep pushing creative boundaries.
The Grammys’ voting body is more diverse, with 66% new members. What does it mean for the awards?
For years, the Grammy Awards have been criticized over a lack of diversity — artists of color and women left out of top prizes; rap and contemporary R&B stars ignored — a reflection of the Recording Academy's electorate. An evolving voting body, 66% of whom have joined in the last five years, is working to remedy that.
At last year's awards, women dominated the major categories; every televised competitive Grammy went to at least one woman. It stems from a commitment the Recording Academy made five years ago: In 2019, the Academy announced it would add 2,500 women to its voting body by 2025. Under the Grammys' new membership model, the Recording Academy has surpassed that figure ahead of the deadline: More than 3,000 female voting members have been added, it announced Thursday.
"It's definitely something that we're all very proud of," Harvey Mason jr., academy president and CEO, told The Associated Press. "It tells me that we were severely underrepresented in that area."
Reform at the Record Academy dates back to the creation of a task force focused on inclusion and diversity after a previous CEO, Neil Portnow, made comments belittling women at the height of the #MeToo movement.
Since 2019, approximately 8,700 new members have been added to the voting body. In total, there are now more than 16,000 members and more than 13,000 of them are voting members, up from about 14,000 in 2023 (11,000 of which were voting members). In that time, the academy has increased its number of members who identify as people of color by 63%.
"It's not an all-new voting body," Mason assures. "We're very specific and intentional in who we asked to be a part of our academy by listening and learning from different genres and different groups that... Read More