Red Car Chicago has named Carrie Holecek, formerly executive producer at The Whitehouse, as managing director. She joins executive producer Jon Desir at the editorial boutique, which has been a Chicago mainstay for almost 20 years. At Red Car she will work closely with Desir and Chicago-based producer Nikki Piazza.
Holecek got her start in the industry as an associate producer at Fallon Worldwide in the mid-1990s. The Iowa native then moved to Los Angeles as a producer and marketing executive at EFILM, Technicolor and Company 3, working in each company’s feature departments. The Whitehouse position brought her home, both to advertising and the Midwest, in 2007.
Offering a client perspective on Holecek, Lisa Burke Snyder, director of production at mcgarrybowen in Chicago, said, “Carrie is the consummate professional. I appreciate her ability to offer smart and creative solutions to any roadblocks along the way. She is a calming presence in challenging situations.”
According to Red Car founder/editor Larry Bridges, bringing Holecek aboard is a key move in a management restructuring that began just over one year ago when Desir, who started at Red Car as an intern, was promoted to executive producer. “Carrie’s ability to not only supervise the rapidly evolving workflow of what postproduction is today, but also to help us grow the Red Car brand in the Midwest, were really appealing qualities,” said Bridges.
Recent work out of Red Car Chicago includes two new Coors Light spots featuring Ice Cube for agency Commonground, edited by Tim LoDolce, as well as a new R Kelley video, “Share My Love,” marking LoDolce’s seventh collaboration with the R&B star. Other notable projects include a Chrysler spot out of agency Global Hue starring Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am that was edited by Greg Sunmark and a spot for Joe’s Crab Shack, edited by Mike Coletta for agency Slingshot out of Red Car’s Dallas office.
The Red Car Chicago roster includes editor Bob Carr in addition to Coletta, LoDolce and Sunmark, along with graphic designer Kevin O’Rourke and finishing director Christopher Elliott. It is represented by Matt Bucher of Obsidian. All Red Car Chicago editors are available nationally through the Red Car offices in Dallas, New York and Los Angeles.
Director Cassandra Brooksbank Joins Monument Content For Spots and Branded Content
Monument Content has signed director Cassandra “Cassie” Brooksbank for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She brings to her directing and storytelling the experience and skills of a writer, conceptual artist, editor and visual effects artist.
Her body of work as a director includes Pepsi’s “Selfie” featuring Lionel Messi amid a flurry of fans, Barclays madcap women’s Soccer League spot where she collaborated closely with the agency to develop the creative, ultimately winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sports Industry Awards, and a grass-roots campaign for Fellow Coffee. The latter just didn’t brew buzz; it helped raise $1.2 million on Kickstarter.
Prior to joining Monument Content, Brooksbank had been repped in the U.S. for commercials by production house Hey Wonderful.
On the long-form front, she is repped by CAA for film and television. And on the horizon is her debut feature, My Masterpiece, produced by Sylvester Stallone’s Balboa Productions and backed by Amazon.
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