Jason Rysavy, an accomplished veteran of digital design and technology companies, has joined Ditch in the new position of Creative Strategist. His hire was announced by Brody Howard and Eric Brusven, partners in Ditch’s digital division.
Rysavy joins Ditch from Clario, a retail-focused marketing analytics company that provides major retailers with software tools to utilize customer, purchase and marketing data to make better-informed decisions. Prior to that, he was the owner and founder of Catalyst Studios. Launched in 1999, Minneapolis-based Catalyst was one of the Midwest's first user-focused digital design studios creating unique retail experiences, both on and offline, for companies like Target, Kohl’s and Best Buy. Rysavy ran the studio for over 13 years until it was acquired in early 2013.
Ditch’s digital division was founded in 2015 when Howard’s post production company acquired a small web design and development boutique. Brusven, the boutique’s lead designer and developer, became Partner and Senior Developer for Ditch’s newly-launched digital and experiential company. It works directly with a wide range of clients and collaborates on projects with agencies such as Latitude, Duffy, Preston Kelly and Olson.
Howard and Brusven see an opportunity for Rysavy to make valuable contributions, both to the success of Ditch’s clients and to the growth of the company itself. “We’re building new interactive stories using creative content,” says Howard, “and bringing Jason on board will allow us to provide this service to our clients with a deeper level of problem-solving and insight.”
Adds Brusven, “Jason’s enthusiasm, the way he talks about the work and his approach to working with clients make him a perfect fit. He provides the missing piece of the puzzle – the strategic thinker – that will direct and drive our projects going forward. With his experience and our combined capabilities, we’ll discover some innovative ways to explore how storytelling can feed into interactive experiences.”
In his role as Creative Strategist for Ditch, Rysavy will also work with Ditch’s clients in its editorial and post production division (www.ditchedit.com). “We’re looking for Jason to bring new ideas to the post production process and a smarter way of thinking about content, particularly in the area of digital media options and solutions that we may not have thought of,” says Howard. “Our goal here is to be able to offer both digital and editorial solutions in tandem, building a holistic storytelling and content creation machine.”
Rysavy feels this is a powerful combination: “I’m excited to leverage concepts and content in new digital avenues and channels that haven’t been considered before,” he says.
Howard envisions a future where the distinctions between the digital and post production arms of Ditch become harder to pinpoint. His main interest, he notes, is in providing clients with the means of getting things done: “I like to build teams and pull all the resources together, and that’s what we’ve been doing by partnering with the music and post audio studio Grey Ghost Music and offering visual effects and color grading through MPC,” he explains. “Together we have a great offering, and with Jason’s strategic insights and digital expertise, I think that’s going to deepen on its own."
Is “Glicked” The New “Barbenheimer”? “Wicked” and “Gladiator II” Hit Theater Screens
"Barbenheimer" was a phenomenon impossible to manufacture. But, more than a year later, that hasn't stopped people from trying to make "Glicked" — or even "Babyratu" — happen.
The counterprogramming of "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" in July 2023 hit a nerve culturally and had the receipts to back it up. Unlike so many things that begin as memes, it transcended its online beginnings. Instead of an either-or, the two movies ultimately complemented and boosted one another at the box office.
And ever since, moviegoers, marketers and meme makers have been trying to recreate that moment, searching the movie release schedule for odd mashups and sending candidates off into the social media void. Most attempts have fizzled (sorry, "Saw Patrol" ).
This weekend is perhaps the closest approximation yet as the Broadway musical adaptation "Wicked" opens Friday against the chest-thumping sword-and-sandals epic "Gladiator II." Two big studio releases (Universal and Paramount), with one-name titles, opposite tones and aesthetics and big blockbuster energy — it was already halfway there before the name game began: "Wickiator," "Wadiator," "Gladwick" and even the eyebrow raising "Gladicked" have all been suggested.
"'Glicked' rolls off the tongue a little bit more," actor Fred Hechinger said at the New York screening of "Gladiator II" this week. "I think we should all band around 'Glicked.' It gets too confusing if you have four or five different names for it."
As with "Barbenheimer," as reductive as it might seem, "Glicked" also has the male/female divide that make the fan art extra silly. One is pink and bright and awash in sparkles, tulle, Broadway bangers and brand tie-ins; The other is all sweat and sand, blood and bulging... Read More