To create the increasingly diverse scope of projects advertisers and brands now need, global VFX company Method Studios is bolstering its leadership team. Stuart Robinson has been promoted to EVP and managing director, North American advertising production, to unify advertising and brand-facing operations. In this new role he will drive strategy, business development and operations across visual effects, design and finishing, and integrate the AR/VR capabilities of Method EXP for advertising clients.
The company has also brought Alaina Zanotti on board as sr. executive producer, business development; and promoted long-time EP Stephanie Gilgar to VP, executive producer, advertising in Los Angeles. Executive producer Angela Lupo has also been promoted to VP, executive producer, advertising in New York, where she will lead day-to-day operations of the NY studio as Robinson takes on his new, bi-coastal role. This team collaborates closely with Method EXP’s Sinjin Bain, SVP, global head of AR/VR.
Method president and GM, Ed Ulbrich, said, “Stu’s a dynamic guy and both clients and creatives love working with him. He’s had great success building our business in New York. We had our best year ever in 2017, and it’s because of the opportunities Stu and the teams have created. They’re now taking that success to the next level by making our production operations even more seamless between the coasts and pulling in talent from our worldwide studios.”
Robinson has decades of experience bringing together creative and technical solutions and supervising projects from pre-production through delivery at leading creative studios. He was one of Framestore London’s first employees, led Smoke & Mirrors’ production division, and was tapped by Superfad to open and run its London office. He opened and ran his own creative boutique before joining Method in 2012.
Zanotti brings deep business development and client relationship experience to Method’s advertising team. She spent more than a decade at Company 3 in Los Angeles and New York as an executive producer, sales engineer and product manager specializing in digital post workflows, remote collaboration and location-based services. She then expanded into the role of executive producer across Method and Company 3 driving business development, client relations, operations, and marketing. She also founded and led business development for L.A.-based editorial and postproduction house Cartel.
Robinson said, “Our clients are changing. We’re working a lot more with brands as well as agencies, and the type of work they’re asking us to do goes way beyond traditional TV commercials. We have incredible creative talent all over the world in VFX, design, finishing and AR/VR, and we’re able to connect them and put together the right teams for projects that can be anything from global product launches to real-time experiences.”
Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. Explore Generations, Old School vs. New School, In “Poppa’s House”
Boundaries between work and family don't just blur in the new CBS sitcom "Poppa's House" starring father-and-son comedy duo Damon Wayans and Damon Wayans Jr. They shatter.
"It's wonderful to come to work every day and see him and some of his kids and my sister and my brother and nieces and nephews. They all work on this show. They all contribute," says the senior Wayans. "I don't think there are words to express how joyful I am."
Wayans plays the titular Poppa, a curmudgeonly radio DJ who's more than comfortable doing it his way, while Wayans Jr. plays his son, Damon, a budding filmmaker who's stuck in a job he hates.
"My character, Pop, is just an old school guy who's kind of stuck in his ways," says Wayans, who starred in "In Living Color" and "My Wife and Kids."
Pop yearns for the days when a handshake was a binding contract and Michael Jordan didn't complain if he got fouled on the court. Pop laughs at the younger generation's participation trophies.
"It's old school versus new school and them teaching each other lessons from both sides," says Wayans Jr., who played Coach in the Fox sitcom "New Girl."
"They (the characters) bring the best out in each other and they're resistant initially. But then throughout the episode they have revelations and these revelations help them become better people," he adds.
The two have worked together before — dad made an appearance on son's "Happy Endings" and "Happy Together," while son was a writer and guest star on dad's "My Wife and Kids." But this is the first time they have headlined a series together.
The half-hour comedy — premiering Monday and co-starring Essence Atkins and Tetona Jackson — smartly leaves places in the script where father and son can let... Read More