Electronic media company Crawford Communications, Atlanta, has promoted Paul Hansil from executive VP/ chief operating officer (COO) to president/COO. The position of president was created specifically for Hansil to officially recognize his responsibility for overall management of Crawford’s operations in video, film, audio, satellite communications and Internet services.
CEO Jesse Crawford said that Hansil "has been instrumental in the growth and success of the company, and is ideally suited to continue to shape the future of Crawford."
Hansil spent the first part of his career in sales and marketing for equipment manufacturers. From 1970 to ’87, he worked in the Redwood City, Calif., and Atlanta offices of Ampex Corporation. In ’87, Hansil joined Abekas Video Systems, also based in Redwood City, as VP of sales and marketing. At the time, Abekas was a division of U.K.-based media conglomerate Carlton Communications. Beginning in ’91, he spent a year working for Quantel, Newbury, U.K., which at the time was also owned by Carlton Communications. Long after his departure, in ’95, Abekas was sold to Redwood City-headquartered Scitex Corporation and in ’98, Scitex was sold to Accom, Menlo Park, Calif. (SHOOT, 1/8/99, p. 10). Quantel has since been purchased from Carlton Communications in a management buyout (SHOOT, 7/28/00, p. 6).
Switching sides
In ’92, Jesse Crawford convinced Hansil to switch to the service side of the business. Hansil worked at Crawford for the next three years, holding various positions including VP of business development and executive VP. In ’95, he joined Accom as senior VP of sales and marketing. At the time, Accom was preparing for an IPO and marketing virtual studios—a technology which allowed production companies to shoot against blue screen and replace the background with computer-generated sets. According to Hansil, he had a lot of fun, but the technology did not revolutionize the industry; and in ’98 he received a call from Jesse Crawford, asking him to re-join Crawford as VP of strategic technologies.
Hansil was charged with spearheading Crawford’s then-planned and since-realized October ’00 relocation into a new all-digital facility, largely outfitted by Sony in a deal valued roughly at $12 million. When executive VP Candice Alger left Crawford in February ’99—after 14 years with the firm—to prepare for the April launch of her own company, Giant Studios, Hansil took over her role. (Giant Studios has offices in Atlanta and Santa Monica, Calif.) He was also given the title of COO.
Hansil noted that his being upped to president would have little impact on the day-to-day running of the firm: "We have already re-organized the company under a structure that I put together and am managing. I think that Jesse gave me the title of president to signify he is getting less and less involved in the day-to-day operations of the company, and in recognition that the organization is working well in this new configuration."
The internal restructuring involved splitting the company into two divisions: post and SIPS (Satellite Internet and Production Services). Post includes film transfer, digital and HD postproduction, sound design and audio mixing, 5.1 surround sound, standards conversion and DVD authoring. SIPS encompasses streaming media and Web casting, online services, satellite transmission, television network origination and playback, and transportable satellite truck services.
Crawford is repped by an in-house sales team that is headed by Dianna Costello, director of business development.
