Industry veteran Mark Sitley–whose last staff post was as executive creative director/production at Euro RSCG Worldwide, New York–has partnered with production execs Luke Thornton and Liz Silver to launch Beyond Belief, a new content company which will be headquartered in New York with an office in Los Angeles. Thornton and Silver are the principals in six-year-old, bicoastal/international spot and music video production house Believe Media; their new venture with Sitley is a standalone shop and not a satellite of Believe.
“We’re dedicating ourselves to the creative and nimble production of intellectual property for marketers, produced in any media, in any platform and any venue,” said Sitley who is managing director of Beyond Belief. “Our projects will be as much about film and TV as they might be about gaming, music, publishing, interactive or wireless content. We’re defining our universe as anything that’s not geared to traditional advertising.”
Sitley, Thornton and Silver have a track record in sponsored entertainment–and in collaborating with one another in that space. Prior to Euro RSCG Worldwide, Sitley was director of North American production for Fallon Worldwide, where he oversaw production on the agency’s groundbreaking BMW Films series. The first round of those films was produced by bicoastal Anonymous Content. But Believe Media’s interactive division, i-Believe, played a key role in laying the groundwork for the BMW Films project, helping to develop the idea for the Web-delivered shorts in collaboration with Fallon creatives and doing the initial work on the BMW Films’ down-loadable player. Thornton and Silver were part of that collaboration with Fallon, as were director David van Eyssen, who later left the company, and Nic Johnson (SHOOT, 8/4/00). Sitley had a hand in hiring Believe as a new media consultant for Fallon in the development of BMW Films.
Now Johnson heads up Beyond Belief’s branding and interactive work as its creative director. He has been working with online content for more than a decade, creating such fare for Disney, Intel and Discover Card, among others. For Believe Media, Johnson has designed and created Web sites and online content for record labels as well as for such brands as Starbucks, Nordstroms and Nikon. Plans call for Beyond Belief to tap into an extensive talent pool, with Sitley citing the many writers, designers, directors and advertising creatives he, Thornton and Silver have collaborated with over the years.
“With Mark on board we’re well suited to focus on the next model of advertising,” stated Thornton, whose Believe Media has produced programs for such brands as Cadillac, Nike, Coca-Cola and GMC. “He’s worked with the best agencies in the business and totally understands where marketers and agencies are headed in terms of creating new channels of content.”
Prior to Fallon, Sitley spent a decade working for a wide range of brands as a director of TV commercials (including via now defunct Sitley Parker Films), and as a freelance production consultant. At one point he headed production for talent agency CAA, Beverly Hills, in its early work for Coca-Cola International. Previously he served as director of broadcast production for Chiat/Day, New York (now TBWA/Chiat/Day). He began his career at DDB New York and later held positions at since closed agencies Edge Creative and Ally & Gargano.
AD&Co. Launches Studio A; Davida Hall To Head New Venture As Sr. Director of Creative Content
Female-founded and led creative marketing agency AD&Co. has opened Studio A. The new venture will serve as AD&Co.’s in-house social brand content division, focused on developing and producing digital programming for advertising, social media, and influencer marketing campaigns designed to reach today’s audiences on the most popular and pivotal platforms. Davida Hall has been named to head Studio A as sr. director of creative content. She shifts over from AD&Co. where she held the same title since December 2023. Hall’s affiliations prior to AD&Co. include PopSugar and Studio71.
Amy Demas, founder and chief creative officer of AD&Co., said, “We understand content is king-—or queen—and that our clients need to engage their customer communities where they live. That inspired the logical expansion of AD&Co with Studio A, which is committed to producing only the most engaging and authentic brand stories.”
Studio A will harness both AD&Co’s and Hall’s deep expertise in the lifestyle sector, as content creators and avid consumers. Specializing in reaching audiences where they spend their time, the studio is immersed in social media, pop culture, and current trends, expertly crafting visuals, language, and storytelling to reinforce client brand identities and cut through the noise.
Studio A debuts with the “This Is Me” campaign for Love + Craft + Beauty, a brand dedicated to embracing and promoting diversity within the beauty space. “This Is Me” highlights Gen Z’s affinity for radical self-expression that allows individuals to tell their own stories, free from labels, using beauty and fashion as tools of authenticity. The campaign showcases models celebrating their unique qualities to present... Read More