Global creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors has named Tom Suharto to lead strategy for its New York office. Suharto will touch all agency accounts, which include Saucony, Oatly and YouTube, as well as focus on new business development.
Suharto has spent nearly 15 years working in advertising and market research, with the past nine years at Wieden+Kennedy leading brands such as Nike, Samsung and Facebook. He has broad experience with global markets, having been based in Shanghai for a solid portion of his career.
“In addition to his extensive research and strategy background, Tom brings with him an entrepreneurial spirit that fits nicely within the Forsman & Bodenfors culture,” said Guy Hayward, global CEO of Forsman & Bodenfors New York. “He has a deep understanding of how people interact globally with brands, which will be invaluable as we further grow our existing and new clients.”
Suharto shared, “I get really excited about ideas that impact culture and have spent my career helping brands unleash their voice in ways people actually care about. I know Forsman & Bodenfors shares this vision. I love how committed they are to true collaboration in pursuit of provocative ideas.”
In addition to nearly a decade at Wieden+Kennedy, Suharto spent nearly five years at Hall & Partners as a research director. He also created Airpocalypse, an air quality app designed to help people survive and thrive in heavily polluted China.
A native New Yorker, Suharto is looking forward to returning home after a career forged in Shanghai and Portland. “I grew up just a pizza snob, and now have added xiaolongbao, dim sum, coffee and IPAs to the list of things that I’m annoyingly picky about. So it’s about time to come home.”
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