NY-headquartered global influencer marketing agency and tech platform Obviously, under the aegis of founder/CEO Mae Karwowski, continues its fast-paced growth with the addition of new clients, the debut of a talent management division, and the hiring of top senior talent. Obviously has expanded its influencer network to more than 440,000 influencers worldwide, working with 175 top brand clients. The new talent management division rounds out Obviously’s micro and nano influencer offerings with additional top-level macro and celebrity influencers. Christopher Lukas joins Obviously as talent manager leading the new division. Lukas comes directly from Next Management, a model management agency. At Next, Lukas was in charge of “new faces,” finding and grooming the next generation of top models. He will expand the agency’s relationships with top-level macro and celebrity influencers, handling the full range of talent management services from negotiation to representation. Anne Hrubala, a veteran sales and business development leader, joins Obviously in the new role of VP of sales. Hrubala was most recently VP of sales and brand partnerships for TYT Network, the online news and talk network for the connected generation and the parent network for The Young Turks. Hrubala has fueled explosive growth at TYT Network and boasts strong corporate experience, blended with a love of start-ups. In his nearly decade-long career, Lukas has developed and launched new, rising talent, while managing the careers of established talent on a global scale. Previously, he was creative producer for Nylon Magazine, producing cover, fashion, beauty, entertainment, culture and lifestyle features. Hrubala is a 15-year veteran in content marketing and media, building and leading high performing and successful sales teams for global companies. Her previous roles include serving as VP of sales for Corbis, then owned by Bill Gates; Google’s DoubleClick, and Storyhunter, among others. Obviously also maintains offices in Paris, Sydney, San Francisco, and Los Angeles….
Aspect, a multi-award winning creative advertising agency that provides strategic marketing solutions across all entertainment platforms, has named Jason Chappelle as its new executive creative director. Prior to joining Aspect, Chappelle had been a SVP and creative director at MOCEAN, where his most recent feature film campaigns included those for The LEGO Movie 2 and Alita: Battle Angel. In his new role with Aspect, he will be responsible for helping to secure new clients and projects; managing the high-level creative for those projects; and working closely with co-presidents and creative directors Lisa Feldman and Nati Braunstein to chart the course for the agency’s future Before joining MOCEAN, Chappelle was at Buddha Jones for over seven years, working first as a writer/producer, and eventually being promoted to sr. producer. There, he worked on dozens of movie campaigns–highlights included Spy, The SpongeBob Movie, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Heat, Chronicle, and Inglourious Basterds….
Full Lineup Set For AFI Fest; Official Selections Span 44 Countries, Include 9 Best International Feature Oscar Submissions
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the full lineup for this year’s AFI Fest, taking place in Los Angeles from October 23-27. Rounding out the slate of already announced titles are such highlights as September 5 directed by Tim Fehlbaum, All We Imagine As Light directed by Payal Kapadia, The Luckiest Man in America directed by Samir Oliveros (AFI Class of 2019), Zurawski v. Texas from executive producers Hillary Clinton, Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence and directors Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault, and Oh, Canada directed by Paul Schrader (AFI Class of 1969). A total of 158 films are set to screen at the 38th edition of AFI Fest.
Of the official selections, 48% are directed by women and non-binary filmmakers and 26% are directed by BIPOC filmmakers.
Additional festival highlights include documentaries Architecton directed by Victor Kossakovsky; Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie directed by David Bushell; Devo directed by Chris Smith about the legendary new wave provocateurs; Gaucho Gaucho directed by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw; Group Therapy directed by Neil Berkeley with Emmy® winner Neil Patrick Harris and Tig Notaro; No Other Land directed by a Palestinian-Israeli team comprised of Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor and Hamdan Ballal; Pavements directed by Alex Ross Perry; and Separated directed by Errol Morris. Notable narrative titles include Black Dog (Gou Zen) directed by Guan Hu; Bonjour Tristesse directed by Durga Chew-Bose with Academy Award® nominee Chloë Sevigny; Caught By The Tides directed by Jia Zhangke; Hard Truths directed by Mike Leigh with... Read More