Havas Group has invested in Republica, a multicultural agency based in Miami. Republica was founded by chairman and CEO Jorge A. Plasencia and president Luis Casamayor in 2006 to address the “seismic multicultural and digital revolution.” Republica’s team of 120 experts specializes in creating relevant, enduring connections across culture, language, and technology, providing strategy, creative, research, media planning and buying, analytics, consumer science, digital, public relations, social, and experiential for brands in the U.S. and around the globe. Today, the agency works with numerous brand partners including Walmart, Toyota, Google, Nielsen, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Freixenet USA, Azamara Club Cruises, NBCUniversal Telemundo, Universal Parks & Resorts, Miami Super Bowl 2020 and Goya Foods. The agency will be renamed Republica Havas and will remain headquartered in Miami, with expansion plans to other key U.S. markets including New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Republica Havas will continue offering expert multicultural marketing intelligence, combined with the ability to leverage Havas’ global integrated communications network as well as tap into parent company Vivendi’s media and entertainment properties. Republica Havas will continue to be led by Plasencia, Casamayor and its executive team, and sit under the direction of Paul Marobella, chairman and CEO, Havas Creative, North America.
Spheres, directed by Chromista’s Eliza McNitt, has won the Grand Prix in VR at the Venice Film Festival. McNitt’s VR series, Spheres, made history at the Sundance Film Festival when it became the first-ever VR experience to be sold in a seven-figure festival acquisition. Spheres is a three-part episodic journey through space and time, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel, through Aronofsky’s company Protozoa, Episode one, "Chorus of the Cosmos," premiered earlier this year in Venice, narrated by Millie Bobby Brown (Stranger Things’ Eleven). Episode two, "Songs of Spacetime," which premiered at Sundance, was narrated by Jessica Chastain. The third episode, "Pale Blue Dot," previewed at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival and is narrated by Patti Smith. Venice VR was the first time all three films were shown together. “I’m truly honored to receive the award,” McNitt stated. “It’s remarkable to experience the oldest film festival in the world embrace the newest forms of storytelling.” McNitt specializes in VR and traditional filmmaking, often working alongside scientists to tell stories about the human connection to the cosmos. She is a two time winner of the Intel International Science & Engineering Fair, with work that has appeared at major film festivals, including Tribeca, SXSW, Sundance, Hot Docs, Cannes Next and AFI. Recently she collaborated with Karlie Kloss on a series for Ford called Trailblazers of STEAM, and with Google, for Pixel, to create the short-film, Dot of Light, following three astronauts’ journey to the stars. Commercial/branded content house Chromista was founded in 2013 by Aronofsky and partners Scott Franklin, Sandy Haddad and Ted Robbins. Chromista’s roster includes Aronofsky, McNitt, Xavier Mairesse, Marcelo Burgos, Kasra Farahani, Dael Oates, Alessandro Pacciani, Elliott Lester, Daniel Portrait, and Josh Cole…
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