Gifted Youth strengthens its bicoastal foothold, bringing aboard advertising veteran Josh Morse as its executive producer in New York and partnering with Barrie Isaacson Management as its East Coast sales team. Morse’s experience spans the ad agency and production sides of the business.
A Queens-native (and current resident), Morse while studying film at Cornell University worked as a PA on film sets and it was his post-graduation job at a camera rental house that gained him entré to the advertising world, where he traded camera equipment for the opportunity to interview at J Walter Thompson NY. From there, Morse moved to Cliff Freeman & Partners, an agency renowned for its comedic ads, followed by TBWAChiatDay, where he cultivated an impressive portfolio including successful campaigns for Absolut and Jameson.
In 2012, Morse joined Barton F. Graf and was instrumental in helping the then-young agency build its production unit. Working across all disciplines–film, video, print, art-buying, digital, experiential–Morse became head of integrated production, forging a name with campaigns for clients like Keep A Child Alive, Bulleit Bourbon, Axe, Jameson Whiskey, Kayak and gaming giant Supercell. Under his direction, the Barton F. Graf’s Super Bowl spot for Supercell’s Clash of Clans went viral, amassing nearly 73 million YouTube views to date. Morse’s work has won virtually every industry award, including numerous Cannes Lions, Facebook Global, and D&AD awards.
Morse has always been drawn to comedy, saying, “When advertising takes itself too seriously, it can feel silly and a bit insincere. Comedic advertising, to me, has always felt more authentic. I’m excited to bring my experience with agencies, as well as the worlds of digital and experiential media, to expand Gifted Youth’s offerings into new and exciting avenues. And also make people laugh at the same time.”
On joining managing director Dal Wolf’s team, Morse said, “I’m aligned with the culture here, which is absolutely key to making the best work possible. Their team, they have an insanely high quality of creative standards. The Gifted Youth roster and the reach they have–that goes well beyond the advertising world into all facets of entertainment–sealed the deal.”
Gifted Youth, whose parent company Funny Or Die touts Will Ferrell and Adam McKay as its founders, celebrates its sixth anniversary this year.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More