Independent advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners has hired Hilary Coate as its new head of integrated production. She joins the team following the retirement of Craig Allen, who joined VB&P as its first producer when the agency opened in 2001, and went on to build its integrated production team and capabilities. In addition to leading the integrated production discipline at VB&P, Coate will partner closely with the agency’s content divisions, which include Lumberyard, Rabble and VB&P studio, to ensure holistic content delivery across its client roster.
Will McGinness, partner and executive creative director, at Venables Bell & Partners, said of Coate, “She’s someone that’s long been at the forefront of new production models and is hugely committed to making the best creative on the planet. She’s also a fantastic leader who knows how to bring out the best in her people. She’s going to rock it here.”
Coate’s new post as head of integrated production comes after a year of freelancing with VB&P, and leading production projects for various clients including Audi, Sony, Celebrity Cruises, Reebok, and Chipotle. Before that, she spent 17 years with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, starting as sr. producer and then becoming executive producer on some of the largest accounts in the agency’s history, including HP, Frito-Lay, Chevrolet, and Cisco. During her tenure at Goodby, Hilary played an integral role in building out the production department and shaping operations in its Detroit office, which was opened specifically to service client Chevrolet. Her impressive career spans 27 years, including time at TBWAChiatDay and DDB, and producing outstanding campaigns all over the world, which have won top honors at Cannes, The One Show, D&AD, and the Effies.
Coate is also respected for the work that she’s shepherded beyond the general advertising realm. One of her many notable projects includes producing the Daughters of the Evolution panel at Cannes in 2017, which gathered female creative leaders and their daughters to discuss what it was like to have successful mothers who use influence for good. In addition to producing the event, she also produced the supporting media. This acclaimed panel was so successful it was also picked up by the 3% Conference.
Coate is passionate about independent film too. In 2008, she produced a documentary short called Dunkumentary, which was featured in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival the following year.
