Editorial and postproduction studio Cartel has appointed Alaina Zanotti as executive producer to drive business development and to help oversee creative operations. This marks her return to the company where she now joins partner and EP Lauren Bleiweiss in a joint collaboration to helm studio expansion across the commercial market. Additionally, Cartel has signed comedic editor Kevin Zimmerman.
With more than 15 years of experience leading creative teams and growth across advertising and entertainment industries, Zanotti brings to Cartel a proven track record for executing projects across all verticals for high-profile clients, including BBDO, Wieden+Kennedy, Deutsch, Google, Paramount and Disney. Zanotti most recently served as sr. EP at Method Studios, where she oversaw business development for global VFX and postproduction. Prior to this, she joined Cartel in 2016 to assist the newly established post and editorial house cement a strong reputation as a creative leader in the commercial market. Zanotti previously spent more than a decade driving operations and raising brand visibility for Method and Company 3.
“Cartel’s boutique studio atmosphere and collaborative environment attracts the industry’s top and up-and-coming editorial talent,” said Zanotti, “By returning to Cartel, I look forward to actively seeking new opportunities and helping our talent connect with leading brands and clients to develop top creative work.”
Zimmerman joins Cartel following a successful tenure as a freelance editor, where his knack for comedic timing and entrepreneurial spirit earned him commercial work for Avocados from Mexico and Planters that aired during 2019 Super Bowl. Throughout his two-decade career in editorial, Zimmerman has held positions at Spot Welders, NO6, Whitehouse Post and Filmcore, with recent high-profile work for Sprite, Kia, hotels.com, Microsoft and Miller Lite, and a PSA for Girls Who Code. Having previously worked with Cartel partners Adam Robinson and Leo Scott, Zimmerman is eager to join the team and collaborate at the studio.
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