Interactive solutions provider Red Sky has promoted Dewey Reid to the newly created position of chief creative officer. Reid joined the San Francisco-headquartered firm in February as executive creative director. In his new role, he will oversee the executive creative directors leading Red Sky’s specific creative disciplines: Joel Hladecek, interactive entertainment; Fred Macdonald, animation and broadcast; and Hans Neubert, interactive marketing. In the near future, Red Sky will name a fourth executive creative director to head up business-to-business and complex back-end projects; in the meantime, Reid will also fill that post.
Since coming aboard Red Sky, Reid has overseen such projects as the Sutter Home "Mood Maker," a Web experience which was headed up by art directors Tom DelMundo and Shawna Bigby; as well as an animated interactive television (iTV) prototype on which Red Sky teamed with Paul Allen’s Digeo Broadband, Kirkland, Wash., and cable giant Charter Communications, which is also controlled by Microsoft co-founder Allen.
Reid characterized his new position as being a link between Red Sky’s departments. "Our executive creative directors are great talents, and each has expertise in certain areas," he said. "I basically represent Fred, Joel and Hans. They focus on what they do best, while I’m responsible for tying all the pieces together in this world of convergence."
Over the past 27 years, Reid has worked in film, television, theatre, comic books, animation, commercials, special effects and other media. Prior to joining Red Sky, he spent five years working for Microsoft in Redmond, Wash., first as creative director of iTV for Microsoft’s advanced technologies group, and later as creative director of the Microsoft Network (MSN). In the latter position, Reid oversaw MSN’s transition from its entertainment-based model to its current portal design.
From ’89 to ’95, Reid served as creative director of preproduction and new media at now defunct (Colossal) Pictures. During that time, he directed some Coca-Cola commercials via Creative Artists Agency, Beverly Hills, Calif.; as well as ads for Burger King out of Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco. Reid also served as art director on MTV’s Liquid Television, a collection of experimental animation shorts produced by (Colossal), which gave rise to Beavis and Butt-Head, among other series. For Liquid Television, Reid worked alongside such noted animation directors as George Evelyn (now of Wild Brain, San Francisco). At (Colossal), Reid also helped software developers to beta test emerging programs such as Adobe’s Photoshop and After- Effects.
Earlier in his career, Reid headed up his own company, the Design Lab, a creative design firm specializing in high-end packaging, film special effects and animation. He shuttered the operation when he joined (Colossal).
Red Sky was founded in ’94 by chief strategic officer Tim Smith, and gained a reputation for its Web-based branding work for clients such as Nike, Absolut Vodka and Altoids mints. Last year the firm created the Miller beer pager, which alerts people via the Web as to when it’s "Miller Time." Other clients include Atlanta-based software developer Prime Contract, and Texaco.
Earlier this year, Red Sky acquired Olive Jar, an animation/effects/live action studio with offices in Boston and Burbank, Calif., and White Noise Productions, a multimedia company based in Los Angeles, for an undisclosed sum (SHOOT, 10/6, p. 1). The acquisitions broadened Red Sky’s service offerings and client base. Olive Jar, headed by Macdonald, was active in the spot, television and theme park arenas, while White Noise’s clients included museums, film studios and broadband firms. Since the acquisition, Olive Jar’s West Coast facility and White Noise have been merged into Red Sky’s Los Angeles office.
Recently, Red Sky’s animation and broadcast division has produced some animated pieces for San Francisco-based myHomeKey.com, a home management services site, as well as some television pilots that Reid wasn’t at liberty to discuss publicly. The former Olive Jar contingent also recently produced some animated end-titles for the American Legacy Foundation’s national anti-tobacco campaign, "Truth," via Arnold Communications, Boston.
Red Sky maintains additional branch offices in New York, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Chicago and Irvine, Calif.
