London-based Academy Films recently opened an office in Los Angeles, marking the first U.S. operation for the venerable production house. Academy and its complete roster of directors, photographers and artists are being repped on the West Coast by 1961 Representation, and on the East Coast by Sasha Stern & Jamie Scalera of Miss Smith….
Alyson Griffith has been named head of sales at charlieuniformtango. Griffith began her career on the agency side. She applied the perspective and experience gained during those years to her talent management company, AG Represents. Now joining her roster is charlieuniformtange, which maintains shops in Dallas and Austin, and has turned out work for brands including American Airlines, JCPenney, Universal Orlando, Samsung, Dr Pepper, McDonald’s, Jeep, RAM, and Abercrombie & Fitch. Over the years, charlieuniformtango has garnered honors which have included National ADDYs, AICE Awards, ANDYs and a Cannes Lion….
My Code, a multicultural media and marketing services company, has appointed Edgar Hernandez as chief strategy officer. In this new role, Hernandez will lead and oversee My Code’s strategic vision across the company including sales and media for My Code’s owned and operated platforms. He will lead initiatives to bolster the brands’ investment and growth of its people and the diverse communities it serves. Hernandez spent 13 years at Complex Networks, building its reputation for innovative youth-culture marketing. He has 20-plus years of experience in media and marketing, recently serving as chief revenue officer at Buzzfeed where he was instrumental through Complex’s integration. He has been working with My Code as a consultant over the past six months, advising on the company’s media properties and strategic direction….
U.K. manufacturer Optimal Audio has appointed Doha-based MDC as its exclusive distributor in Qatar….
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More