Mass Appeal, an urban culture-focused media and entertainment company, has announced the combination of its production arm, Decon, into a fully integrated operation under the flagship Mass Appeal brand. Effective immediately, Mass Appeal will operate as a single entity media, content and production company.
This shift will allow Mass Appeal to offer a comprehensive network of services that will better serve the company’s roster of clients and attract new brand partners looking to connect with urban culture.
“This has always been my dream for this company,” said Peter Bittenbender, CEO of Mass Appeal. “Between Mass Appeal’s heritage as a culture setter, and Decon’s production capabilities and unique roster of directors and photographers, Mass Appeal now has an unparalleled offering for brands looking to do something fresh for consumers.”
In 2013, Decon teamed up with media brand Mass Appeal to leverage the publisher’s expertise on youth-born culture, and together, they have built a cross-platform content model that extends into film, TV, digital media, music and commercial content.
“These changes come at a pivotal moment in the advertising industry, as the lines between entertainment and advertising continue to blur more every day. By rolling Decon into Mass Appeal, we’re positioning ourselves smack in the middle of the intersection of culture, entertainment and advertising,” said Mike Lobikis, executive producer at Mass Appeal. “As we consider the future of this industry, we’re creating a new model that allows for bold partnerships with creators, entertainment companies, brands and agencies alike.”
Most recently, Mass Appeal developed and produced the series Rapture for Netflix The series–four episodes of which were helmed by three of Mass Appeal’s rostered directors–is an ambitious, raw and compelling look at hip-hop and its influence on culture in 2018. Each episode explores the persona of a different modern-day rap star, including Nas, T.I., Logic, 2 Chainz, Just Blaze and more. Additionally, Mass Appeal has partnered with big name brands to produce award-winning work for Google Doodle’s Anniversary of Hip-Hop, Asics’ “I Move Me” campaign featuring Steve Aoki, SoundCloud’s first advertising campaign, exclusive projects with HBO for Game of Thrones, and many others.
Carrie Coon Relishes Being Part Of An Ensemble–From “The Gilded Age” To “His Three Daughters”
It can be hard to catch Carrie Coon on her own.
She is far more likely to be found in the thick of an ensemble. That could be on TV, in "The Gilded Age," for which she was just Emmy nominated, or in the upcoming season of "The White Lotus," which she recently shot in Thailand. Or it could be in films, most relevantly, Azazel Jacobs' new drama, "His Three Daughters," in which Coon stars alongside Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as sisters caring for their dying father.
But on a recent, bright late-summer morning, Coon is sitting on a bench in the bucolic northeast Westchester town of Pound Ridge. A few years back, she and her husband, the playwright Tracy Letts, moved near here with their two young children, drawn by the long rows of stone walls and a particularly good BLT from a nearby cafe that Letts, after biting into, declared must be within 15 miles of where they lived.
In a few days, they would both fly to Los Angeles for the Emmys (Letts was nominated for his performance in "Winning Time" ). But Coon, 43, was then largely enmeshed in the day-to-day life of raising a family, along with their nightly movie viewings, which Letts pulls from his extensive DVD collection. The previous night's choice: "Once Around," with Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus.
Coon met Letts during her breakthrough performance in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolfe?" on Broadway in 2012. She played the heavy-drinking housewife Honey. It was the first role that Coon read and knew, viscerally, she had to play. Immediately after saying this, Coon sighs.
"It sounds like something some diva would say in a movie from the '50s," Coon says. "I just walked around in my apartment in my slip and I had pearls and a little brandy. I made a grocery list and I just did... Read More