ArsenalFX founder Mark Leiss has launched Santa Monica, Calif.-based content creation studio ArsenalCreative alongside ECD Kaan Atilla and EP Cortney Haile. ArsenalCreative, specializes in design, branding, animation, and visual effects for the commercial and entertainment industries. Atilla, formerly of Mirada and Motion Theory, brings a diverse portfolio that includes commercial work for global brands such as IBM, Nike, Lexus, HP, and Hershey’s; music videos including Weezer’s Grammy award-winning “Pork and Beans”; and interactive campaigns like IBM’s Centennial installation at Lincoln Center in New York City. His creative vision and conceptual, out-of-the-box ideas have earned him such honors as Icograda’s “International Young Designer of the Year,” awards from the Art Director’s Club, AICP, D&AD, and AIGA. Haile comes over directly from ArsenalFX. She brings over a decade of experience in the content space producing commercials, TV shows, and feature film content. She entered the postproduction world in the mid 2000s working at Lionsgate Entertainment. She went on to work in business development at 2G Digital Post, before joining ArsenalFX in 2011 as an account executive….
Bicoastal design and animation company ODD (Office of Development & Design) has signed creative director team Territory, comprised of David Sheldon-Hicks and Nick Glover. The pair has expertise that spans a broad range of media, industries and brands. They have worked with global agencies such as Grey, Mother, VCCP, Saatchi & Saatchi, adam&eveDDB and JWT. Recent commercial work includes digital films for Virgin Atlantic showcasing its Boeing 787 Dreamliner plus digital content for the McLaren’s Formula 1 Team. Territory Studio also has to its credit effects work on feature films including Prometheus, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ex Machina, Jupiter Ascending and Avengers: The Age of Ultron. Territory has signed on to create effects for the upcoming releases for Agent 47 (Alexander Back), The Martian (Ridley Scott) & Mission Impossible 5 (Christopher McQuarrie) later this year. ODD is headed by executive creative director Gary Breslin, and overseen by EPs Tim Case and Charles Salice….
Red Tettemer O’Connell + Partners (RTO+P) has hired Hilary Craven as chief marketing officer. In this newly created position, Craven will focus on broadening the agency’s offerings, driving it into new sectors, and weaving her strong entertainment relationships into the agency model. She will report to Steve Red, president and chief creative officer of RTO+P. In addition to working across the agency’s roster of clients, Craven is also charged with developing overarching strategies for the RTO+P brand including events, branded entertainment, partnerships, products and IP. Craven will be based in the agency’s Los Angeles office with frequent trips to RTO+P’s Philadelphia headquarters. Prior to joining RTO+P, Craven was head of experiential and head of earned media at LA-based 72andSunny, during which time she created communications and experiential strategies for global brands including Activision, Anheuser Busch, Google, PacSun, Samsung, Smirnoff, Sonos, Target, Tillamook and Truth. She was also responsible for launching and managing the agency’s music discovery platform, as well as creating the agency’s event series. Before that, Craven was founder and principal of The Maven Projects, a communications and marketing agency focused on music, action sports and fashion….
