Creative production agency Avocados and Coconuts has brought Michael Grant on board as creative director. Grant is best known for his wide-ranging work as a creative director and copywriter on TV, print, social, digital, and experiential projects for such brands as Pepsi, The North Face, Sun Valley, Trulia, Amazon, Muscle Milk, Google, and Square, among others. At Avocados and Coconuts, he will work closely with Amani King, who has been promoted to the role of executive creative director, and founder/executive producer Dalia Burde.
“Michael has long been our favorite writer to partner with when we’ve been lucky enough to book his freelance time, and he has contributed to many of our favorite projects,” said King. “We’ve always felt like he speaks our language, creatively, aesthetically, you could even say spiritually. He consistently expands our own view of the potential in a given project – and his creative insight honors the intelligence of the audience – which makes for the strongest work.”
Grant added, “Avocados and Coconuts makes beautiful films for companies that are doing important things in the world. Whether it’s renewable energy, improving working conditions in South America, or something simpler like the best cup of coffee or getting out into nature, the purpose and consciousness show in the work, and resonate with me personally.”
Grant was most recently freelancing as an associate creative director and copywriter at various agencies and brands, including Godfrey Dadich, Huge, LinkedIn, Bonfire Labs, and Airbnb. Prior to that, he was associate creative director and sr. copywriter at Mekanism, where he worked on TV, web, and social campaigns.
As a freelance writer, Grant has enjoyed stints at Autofuss, Google Brand Studio, Digitas, and B-Reel, working on a range of projects for Taco Bell, Ray-Ban, Intel, and others. Before that, he was on staff as a copywriter at West, where he led copy for a range of startups, and at Eleven, working on campaigns for Square, Sun Valley Tourism, Visa, and Coinstar.
Grant came into the ad industry through a non-traditional path. He worked for Warner Bros. Records as a guerrilla marketing rep while attending UC Berkeley, and after graduating he went full-on Hollywood as a stunt double for Tobey Maguire in Spider-Man 3. After filming wrapped, Grant’s foray into the ad world began at Evolution Bureau as a creative assistant, before transitioning to a copywriter role for clients, such as Nike Baseball, Tropicana, and adidas.
Outside of work, Grant flexes his writing skills on personal book projects, with two titles currently in the works.
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