Grass Valley, a Belden Brand, has secured Neerav D. Shah to serve as the company’s new sr. VP, strategic marketing. Shah has more than 25 years of experience in product development, marketing, operations and business development. A creative strategist, Shah most recently held executive and senior leadership positions at ARRIS and Verimatrix, two companies with expertise in developing solutions to deliver and monetize multiplatform content–a growing priority for Grass Valley customers.
Shah and his team will be responsible for refining Grass Valley’s product strategy and market positioning to ensure alignment with the rapidly changing needs of the global broadcast community.
“The broadcast community is undergoing a substantial shift—both in the migration to IP infrastructures and in the need for content to be delivered to multiple platforms simultaneously,” said Marco Lopez, Grass Valley’s president. “Neerav’s expertise in these areas and his ability to navigate complex technology transitions will pay real, immediate dividends for our customers and enable us to meet the changing needs of our core market.”
Shah earned an MBA from Yale, where he specialized in strategy and product development. Prior to that, he completed a Bachelor of Science in computer science at Northwestern University in Illinois as well as the Executive Management Program in Leadership, Innovation and Strategy at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.
Shah’s appointment coincides with the creation of a key new function within Grass Valley’s executive ranks. Michael Cronk will be leading an important product development initiative called Core Technology, which will ensure Grass Valley product interoperability and consistency across the portfolio. As VP of core technology, Cronk will continue in his role as chairman of the board for the Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), helping promote and advocate for widely supported, open standards for IP in broadcast.
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More