Portland, Ore.-based animation studio HouseSpecial, formerly LAIKA/house, added a new LA rep, Kevin Batten, to handle the West Coast. He rounds out the HouseSpecial sales team which also consists of The Standard Society in Chicago (Midwest) and Kelly Salmon in Brooklyn (East Coast). Batten is well-versed in animation and advertising. He is the founder of Pop-Arts Management and has been a leader at Superfad, Logan & Sons, Brand New School plus a producer at agencies Deutsch LA, Wieden + Kennedy, DDB and WongDoody. HouseSpecial recently celebrated a successful first year following its spin-off from feature film studio LAIKA. HouseSpecial’s collaborations include an ongoing CG campaign for Boom Beach with Supercell and Barton F. Graf 9000, the long-standing M&M’s campaign featuring the beloved Red & Yellow characters with BBDO, and a stop-motion homage to artisans and the maker movement for Hรคagen-Dazs with Goodby, Silverstein & Partners….
Jen Giles of Scout Creative Reps has taken on Midwest representation for Conspiracy, a Chicago-based post and production studio. Conspiracy comes aboard a Scout Creative Reps roster which includes international production companies GARTNER, Mrs. Bond (formerly Recommended Media) and Picasso Pictures. Giles began her career on the agency side before branching into commercial sales for production, post, and animation companies. Amy McIntyre is Conspiracy’s EP/head of sales….