Cutters Studios, based in Chicago with a revamped L.A. office and new locations in Detroit and Tokyo, has extended its geographic and creative reach further with the launch of a New York office. The core team assembled for the Big Apple venture, located in SoHo, consists of executive producer Elizabeth Krajewski, former EP of Beast NYC, and editors Steve Bell and Nadav Kurtz.
Bell comes over from Cosmo Street while Kurtz started his career at Cutters in Chicago and has continued to work through all of its offices.
“We didn’t want to entertain the idea of a New York office until we could offer the kind of opportunities that would attract the best talent,” said Tim McGuire, Cutters Studios CEO and president. “We’ve had unprecedented growth and we are able to give editors an opportunity to work in other large markets where we have a strong presence. So the timing couldn’t be more perfect for us to tackle an advertising hub like New York City.”
Cutters Studios EP Craig Duncan added, “We knew opening an office in New York would be an exciting challenge. Tim and I both agreed that in addition to a world-class editorial roster it was imperative that we have great leadership. Five minutes into our first conversation with Elizabeth I knew she was the one. She had an immediate understanding of our culture and what we wanted to achieve.”
Bell’s editing credits include such clients as the National Hockey League, Coke, Absolut, Mercedes, Nivea and Google Labs. Kurtz’s ad endeavors span collaborations with such directors as Tony Kaye (Blue Cross/Blue Shield), Vincent Haycock (Absolut), Sean Thonson (Central Dupage Hospital) and Jordan Brady (Chicago Crystal Meth Task Force). Kurtz also made a notable directorial debut with the short film Paraiso, which tells the stories of three immigrant window cleaners who risk their lives every day rappelling down some of Chicago’s tallest skyscrapers. Paraiso was screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and earned inclusion on last year’s Oscar Short Subject Documentary shortlist. Paraiso was co-produced by Kurtz’s The Strangebird Company and Dictionary Films, which is part of the Cutters’ family of shops. Kurtz noted that he would have never been able to bring the short film to fruition without the production resources of Dictionary and post support from Cutters.
Obele Brown-West Becomes President of Colle McVoy
Obele Brown-West has been named president of agency Colle McVoy.
The 20-plus year industry vet has supervised integrated communications, media and technology teams. Her expertise spans retail, commerce, CPG, travel, automotive, entertainment, agribusiness, education, healthcare and petcare categories. A sampling of brands she’s stewarded include Chips Ahoy!, Mars Inc. ALDI, MilkPEP, Headspace, Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sanofi, Cars.com, PacSun, TracFone Wireless, Dove Chocolate, United Airlines, the NFL, Unilever, Etsy and Mattel brands.
“A rare being, Obele is a born connector,” said Colle McVoy CEO Jessica Henrichs. “Her foresight for opportunity and command of end-to-end marketing is unrivaled—the partnerships she’s brokered, revenue and operating model evolutions she’s architected and how she’s championed brand authenticity are case studies for cutting through chaos.”
Brown-West stated, “At this point in my career, workplace culture is at the top of my decisioning chart. What Colle McVoy is doing for clients is exceptional, but the team orientation and culture powering the creative agency’s success is what resonated with me.” She added, “The whole interview process was very different. I was never being sold. Instead, it was free-flowing conversations about the love and shared respect people have collaborating, pride in the award-winning work and real talk about the challenges that come with rapid growth. Getting to connect with people who’ve been at Colle McVoy less than a year all the way to a person celebrating their 25th anniversary spoke volumes.”
Brown-West’s career highlights include:
--Most recently leading AI-powered Tracer to the forefront of data intelligence conversations as president... Read More