Contend has hired Michael Beller as VP, emerging technologies, and Matt Luem and Alfredo de Villa as VPs/content creators. Beller comes from Source Interlink Media (now TEN: The Enthusiast Network) where he served as VP of brand marketing and development. With a background in multi-platform content creation with distribution media companies, Beller previously held key positions at NBC, AOL, IAC, Disney, Sony Music and BrightRoll and has forged marketing and branded entertainment partnerships with Fortune 500 companies such as Jaguar, T-Mobile, McDonald’s and Toyota. Luem has directed, produced and designed commercials for numerous Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations including Nike, AB InBev, Shell Oil and UCLA. Luem served as a director, designer and founder of the production company Safe Camp. And de Villa has produced branded content and commercial work for global brands such as Walmart, McDonald’s, Harley-Davidson, Chicago Tribune, AT&T, Verizon, and State Farm, and has directed television work for NBC-Comcast, Discovery Channel and PBS. His films have premiered in such festivals as Tribeca Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival and boasts notable cast members including Heather Graham, Billy Baldwin, Debra Messing, Rosie Perez, John Leguizamo, Alfred Molina and Bobby Cannavale. Founded in the spring of 2014, Contend specializes in creating, producing and distributing data-driven content to deliver measurable business results. Headquartered in L.A., the company also maintains an office in Chicago….
Todd Brown, a co-founder/owner of West Post Digital, has joined Cinema Libre Studio, an independent entertainment company that specializes in production and distribution of narratives and social impact films, as VP, post production & business development. Brown will oversee Cinema Libre’s expanded post capabilities in its new location in Burbank, the former THX offices, while establishing programs that will aid independent filmmakers both domestically and abroad in finishing films. Cinema Libre’s sr. editor Tom VonDoom and assistant editor Carlos Velasco have handled creative editorial and technical deliveries for films such as the Sundance Audience Award winning Fuel, Oliver Stone’s South Of the Border, the Shine Global/Eva Longoria produced The Harvest/La Cosecha and Rachid Bourchareb’s London River. The company’s post capabilities include: DaVinci Resolve color correction, ProTools sound editing and mixing, Final Cut, Avid and Adobe Premiere editing in 2K/4K, and encoding for delivery to all major digital platforms….
