Anne Wilson Kurtzman has been named head of production at Los Angeles-based advertising agency davidandgoliath. She replaces former executive producer Amy Samuelson, who left at the end of November.
Most recently, Kurtzman was a freelance producer for davidandgoliath’s Kia Motors America account, producing "Drive In," as well as a package of three more spots set to air in 2001. She joined davidandgoliath full-time this month.
For the past several years, Kurtzman had worked as a freelance commercial producer for J. Walter Thompson, New York; TBWA/Chiat/Day, Los Angeles; Siltanen/Keehn, El Segundo, Calif.; and the now defunct Edge Creative. Recently, she produced Bass Ale’s "Picasso" and "Titanic" via Weiss Stagliano Partners, New York.
Prior to moving to the Los Angeles area in 1995, Kurtzman spent six years as senior VP/ head of broadcast production at Cliff Freeman and Partners, New York. There she produced spots such as Little Caesars’ "Magic Fingers," Singing Baby" and "Focus Group," a package that won a Gold Clio in the national campaign category in ’95. Other credits include Staples Office Supplies’ "No Surprises," "Mailman" and "Most Wonderful Time," which also took Clio Gold, that year, in the regional campaign category.
It was while working at Cliff Freeman and Partners that Kurtzman first met David Angelo who joined Cliff Freeman as executive creative director in ’95, just before Kurtzman left the agency. In ’99, Angelo opened davidandgoliath, as chief creative officer/co-managing partner (with Skip Sullivan).
Kurtzman and Angelo had met only briefly. But in December ’99, just after davidandgoliath opened, Angelo asked Kurtzman to produce some spots for Kia. Early in ’00, Angelo offered her the head of production job, but at that time Kurtzman preferred life as a freelancer to full-time employment. In September, she began working on another package of Kia spots, and in November, when Angelo again asked her to join davidandgoliath full-time, Kurtzman accepted. "I had the benefit of freelancing here first. I knew the atmosphere, the caliber of work and the employees. Those were big deciding points for me, and with David at the helm I knew we’d always be producing great work," she related.
