Bill Reilly, owner and executive producer of the L.A.-based live action production company Space Program, has been named the new executive producer for commercials and advertising content at animation and mixed-media production house Curious Pictures, New York. Reilly will merge Space Program into Curious Pictures, bringing with him directors Zach Braff and Scott Duncan. Braff has already landed his first project at Curious, a comedy job for a Procter & Gamble brand that combines live action, visual effects and tabletop for Saatchi & Saatchi, New York.
Additionally, Curious is opening an office in Santa Monica, the first outside N.Y. in its 18 year history, and has named new representation for the East Coast. The new office will provide a base of operations for the studio’s growing involvement in feature film, TV programming and other entertainment projects, as well as service the work of its West Coast-based directors. Reilly will divide his time between the New York and Santa Monica offices of Curious. He takes charge of commercials and advertising content at Curious, a province previously headed by Mary Knox who served as managing director of commercials for the company before moving over to Red Car New York as its managing director (SHOOTonline, 3/16).
Jan Korbelin, managing partner of Curious, noted that the studio has steadily been adding live-action directors to its roster over the years and extending its production footprint to the West Coast in terms of advertising and entertainment. The hiring of Reilly, an experienced live action EP with a background in visual effects and animation, along with the new office in Santa Monica, furthers Curious’ growth in both regards.
As for the alluded to new East Coast representation, Curious has secured the services of independent firm Hello, Tomorrow, consisting of reps Michelle Stuart and Mary Eiff, who previously repped Space Program in the East.
“We’re continuing to lay the groundwork for the future of commercial content at Curious,” said Korbelin about Reilly’s signing. “As advertising is now incorporating so many new forms–everything from games to apps to long form–the signing of Bill is going to go a long way to ensuring our role as partners and producers for both agencies and brands.
Reilly sees joining Curious as way for him to offer a broader range of creative options and resources to his agency clients. “At Space Program, we were frequently asked to provide different kinds of deliverables that we didn’t have the capability of executing on our own,” he said. In his new post he’ll work closely with Camille Geier, Curious Picture’s head of production/exec producer, who’s joined the studio last year from the New York visual effects shop Rhino (now Gravity). She had previously worked with Reilly on numerous projects, handling visual effects on jobs shot by his Space Program directors.
Indeed, Reilly initially viewed Curious as a potential co-production partner for Space Program, but the more he learned about the studio, the more compelling he found the idea of joining in a full time capacity. “Being here gives me so many more things to talk about with agencies,” he explained.
The move brings Reilly back to his roots in visual effects–he got his start in the industry fresh out of UCLA’s film school with a job at Dream Quest Images, a visual effects studio in Simi Valley, Calif. He later worked at ILM (where Geier is also an alum) before teaming up with comedy director Mike Bigelow, his UCLA classmate, to launch Space Program after a stint together at now defunct Coppos Films. While Bigelow eventually moved on from Space Program, Reilly continued to build the company.
Curious is currently producing a network pilot and is working on various development projects for both advertising and entertainment. The workload has increasingly seen Curious’ producers and directors travelling to California for meetings and shoots, making the L.A. office a needed outpost to complement the work of its New York studio. That’s where the bulk of its staff of 150 producers, directors, animators, CG artists and other specialists are based, working out of a 30,000 square foot studio housing a shooting stage, a full CG department and motion capture capability.
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.โs in-house social brand content division, focused on developing and producing digital programming for advertising, social media, and influencer marketing campaigns designed to reach todayโs 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. Hallโs affiliations prior to AD&Co. include PopSugar and Studio71.
Amy Demas, founder and chief creative officer of AD&Co., said, โWe understand content is king-โor queenโand 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.โ
Studio A will harness both AD&Coโs and Hallโs 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 โThis Is Meโ campaign for Love + Craft + Beauty, a brand dedicated to embracing and promoting diversity within the beauty space. โThis Is Meโ highlights Gen Zโs 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