International visual effects and design company Smoke & Mirrors has hired Mary Knox as managing director of its New York office. The appointment comes as part of a global strategy to strengthen the brand across its key international studio locations.
Knox most recently served as managing director of creative editorial boutique Red Car New York. Before that she was managing director of commercials for Curious Pictures, where she executive produced all advertising assignments and expanded the company’s directorial roster to include live action in addition to animation.
Smoke & Mirrors offers an array of postproduction services, including shoot supervision, 2D/3D design and animation, Flame, color grading and versioning, all supported by a team of producers and visual effects artists and a sophisticated technical infrastructure. Smoke & Mirrors maintains offices in London, Shanghai and Sao Paolo, in addition to New York.
Gary Szabo, managing director of Smoke & Mirrors in London, characterized the hiring of Knox as “another step forward in our push to be a truly global offering.”
In London, Smoke & Mirrors has recently launched a live-action production company, Rock Hound. This venture is also soon to launch in the U.S., alongside a new editorial company.
Knox cited the developments brewing in London as well as Smoke & Mirrors’ high caliber work and successful partnerships with agencies and brands as drawing her to the company.
Smoke & Mirrors was founded in London in 1995 and opened in New York City in 2003. Recent U.S. commercial clients include agencies BBDO, mcgarrybowen, Kirshenbaum Bond Senecal & Partners and brands such as BMW, Mountain Dew, Reebok, ESPN, Google, Jaguar, Land Rover, Verizon, Absolut, MTV, and Coke. Smoke & Mirrors most recently completed CGI and VFX for the pilot of Hannibal, an NBC show directed by David Slade (Twilight, Breaking Bad), slated to break early next month.
The company is represented in the U.S. by its staff sales and marketing manager Julie Batkiewicz, as well as by N.Y.-based independent rep Victoria Venantini.
SUPERLATIVE Signs Director Claudia Abend For Spots and Branded Content
Latin American director/editor and documentary filmmaker Claudia Abend has joined SUPERLATIVE for her first U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content.
Abend's empathetic docu-style POV has garnered several international awards for the documentary films Hit (2008) and The Flower of Life (2018). Her spotmaking credits include such brands as Procter & Gamble, Nestle and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. SUPERLATIVE has already worked with Abend, together producing a new ad campaign for digital agency Tinuiti and The Honest Company, a consumer goods corporation featuring eco-minded products.
“We found Claudia through her poignant documentaries on the festival circuit,” said SUPERLATIVE creative manager Stefan Dezil. “We are excited about her textured narratives, emotional storytelling, and her powerhouse long-form storytelling abilities, currently on her third feature film. As SUPERLATIVE continues to build our brand after premiering our latest films at Sundance and SXSW, Claudia is the kind of multidimensional artist we are excited to partner with on branded content and beyond. Fluent in English and Spanish, her reel shows real prowess with infants, food and skin products, families both young and old. Great visual storytelling and inspirational doc work.”
Abend began her career in her native Uruguay, studying film and editing in college. “My dad would show me films like Citizen Kane,” she said. “I love cinema and became an editor. It was here that I learned all about communicating human emotion.”
From the get-go, Abend hit it big as a documentary director, teaming with Adrianna Loeff on Hit, a movie chronicling pop artists of Uruguayan music. Abend took home a Best Editing... Read More