Commercial production company <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses, with offices in New York, Santa Monica and Chicago, has hired Annie Hanlon as its executive producer on the West Coast. Hanlon, who will be based in Santa Monica, previously served as executive producer at GARTNER in Los Angeles and was also a principal and executive producer of Chromatic Films, a producer of television shows, branded content and new media.
Hanlon will join Pam Rohs, <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses‘ executive producer on the East Coast, in a new endeavor to grow the company’s directorial staff and raise its profile among advertising agencies nationwide. Rohs called her “an experienced creative leader with a proven ability to help companies grow.” “Annie shares our creative vision for <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses and has the experience and the talent to make it happen,” Rohs said. “We are thrilled to have her as a part of our team.”
In a related move, <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses has also hired Brandy Curry as production manager on the West Coast. Previously, Curry was a production manager at bi-coastal MJZ, where she helped manage 16 directors along with a team of producers and crew.
Hanlon has more than 15 years of experience in commercial production, and has also worked in independent films, television, branded content and music videos. She began her career with September Productions, Boston, and later served as executive producer of the music house Soundtrack, New York.
In 2002, Hanlon launched trio films, a Los Angeles-based boutique commercial production house and, in 2006, founded Chromatic Films with director James Tooley. Hanlon recently served as executive producer of “The Scenic Route,” a 7-part documentary series for Ovation TV, funded by Subaru and with creative from Minneapolis agency Carmichael Lynch. She also produced “Open Bar,” a 6-episode series for MTV’s Logo channel.
Hanlon called <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “It seems almost too good to be true,” she said. “The minute I met Pam, I knew it was the right move, and everything fell into place. Together we can build something amazing.”
In the first fruits of that effort, the company has signed Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, commercial photographer and filmmaker Vincent Laforet for exclusive representation as a commercial director. This marks the first time that Laforet has had formal representation as a live action director in the commercial advertising market. (For the past five years, he has been represented by Stockland Martel as a commercial still photographer.) Earlier this year, he won three awards at the 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for the “Beyond the Still” campaign he developed for Canon and Grey Advertising, New York. In his first assignment for <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses, Laforet is helming a project for Mountain Dew out of Motive, Denver.
<a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses also represents directors Aine Carey, Rachel Harms and Marcus Stevens.
Laforet is one of the most accomplished photographers of his generation. At age 25, he became the youngest staff photographer ever hired by the New York Times, and later worked for Time Magazine, National Geographic, Vanity Fair, Sport Illustrated and many other publications. He won a Pulitzer Prize for his overseas coverage of 9/11, and also covered such stories Hurricane Katrina, the Second Gulf War, the White House (during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations), and the inauguration of Barak Obama. Laforet was named as one of the “100 Most Influential People In Photography” by American Photo Magazine in 2005.
Laforet is considered a pioneer for his tilt-shift and aerial photography, and he has also been a leading exponent for the use of HD-capable DSLR cameras in shooting video. His short film Reverie, the first 1080p video shot with the Canon 5D MKII, was viewed more than 2 million times during the first week of its release in 2008.
Since 2006, Laforet has increasingly focused on exploring new possibilities in digital filmmaking. In tandem with Canon, Vimeo and Grey Advertising, New York, he developed the “Beyond the Still” digital filmmaking competition that subsequently won Gold, Silver and Bronze awards (Lions) at the 2010 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The Bronze Lion came in the prestigious Titanium category which recognized work across all media categories.
Significantly, Laforet has made innovative use of social media and viral strategies to support his filmmaking endeavors and views emerging communications tools as crucial extension of a director’s lexicon. “The ability to reach and develop an audience is very important for directors today,” he observed. “My videos have collectively been seen more than 6 million times over the past eight months alone, largely because I am invested in the community out there.” Laforet currently publishes a highly influential blog on HDDSLR filmmaking and photography that attracts more than 3 million visitors per year.
Laforet said that he has received a number of offers from production companies, but until now the timing and the situation hadn’t been right. “I wanted to establish a body of work as a director and DP before looking for representation,” he explained. “It took two years to reach the point where I am comfortable with my reel.”
“When I met with <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses, I was immediately struck by the personalities of the people and how well we matched,” he added. “With some companies, you have a business relationship and it starts and ends there. With <a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses, I felt they had a lot of soul and potential. They got who I am.”
<a href="www.thejoneses.tv.>The Joneses has offices in New York, Chicago and Santa Monica. For more information, call (212) 677-7770 or (310) 656-8300, or visit www.thejoneses.tv.
