Craig Duncan, partner and executive producer of Cutters in Chicago, and Rachelle Madden, managing director of Poetica in New York, have been elected co-presidents of the International Board of Directors of AICE. The pair succeeds Clayton Hemmert, owner and editor at Crew Cuts in New York, whose two-year term expires at the end of 2013.
Joining Duncan and Madden as officers of the Board are Bob Spector, editor at Beast Editorial in San Francisco, who will serve as AICE VP; Kristin Redman, executive producer at Hudson Editorial in Detroit, who will serve as secretary; and Ray Forzley, COO/CFO of Section Eight, Inc. in Toronto (parent company of Panic & Bob, Notch, axyz and Crush), who will serve as treasurer.
Both Duncan and Madden currently serve in leadership positions on the Board; Duncan is VP and Madden is treasurer.
In announcing the election, AICE executive director Burke Moody noted that increasingly complex and vital issues are facing AICE members and the postproduction industry as a whole, ranging from challenging business practices to budgetary concerns to the ongoing challenges of file-based workflows. "We've got a lot on our plate as an organization," Moody explained, "and this move to share the duties of the top officer lets us apply the knowledge and insight of our most senior leaders in an efficient, hands-on manner."
Hemmert said that Duncan and Madden are "truly committed to our industry and fully aware of the critical issues facing not just our members, but everyone who's involved in the creation, production and distribution of ad content."
Duncan, who was named a partner at Cutters earlier this year, has enjoyed a long career in postproduction. Prior to joining Cutters as EP, he was the managing director of Red Car, also in Chicago, a position he came to after spending many years at post houses such as Griot and Postique.
Madden joined New York's Poetica, the visual effects and design arm of jumP Editorial, in October of last year. Prior to that she held a variety of EP positions at companies such as Trollback + Company, Company X and Endless Noise. She started her career in post at RhinoFX, now Gravity.
"I think one of the big advantages of having co-presidents is that AICE will always have someone available to deal with issues that arise in a timely manner," Duncan said about his new role. "I expect Rachelle and I will collaborate on the vast majority of the responsibilities of the office. We've served together on the Board for several years and have a great working relationship."
Madden noted, "In recent years AICE has ramped up our advocacy for our membership on a wide range of issues, and the Board is actively pursuing a more aggressive stance in general. Instituting a co-presidency lets us keep up with the demands of a more active association. It gives us the flexibility to set and maintain a wider agenda."
She added, "The industry is more or less in a state of constant flux, and our AICE member companies will continue to face significant challenges as a result. Just look at our most recent Policy Statement–downward pricing, extended payment and sequential liability clauses, agency in-house postproduction, the commoditization of creative work–the list goes on. These are all critical issues; any one of them alone has the power to put some of our smaller members out of business. Taken as a whole, they're a threat to the health of our entire membership."
Moving forward, Duncan sees the continuing mission of AICE as "highlighting and promoting the amazing contributions our members are making to the advertising industry. We also need to continue to educate our agency and client-side partners on key issues, such as the impact of in-house editorial and extended payments, as well as the importance of proper archiving in the digital age. They need to be aware of everything that goes into the services we provide."
Karla Sofía Gascón Could Make Trans History For Role In “Emilia Pérez”
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