Director James Bobin has joined bicoastal Moxie Pictures for spot representation in North America. He continues to be handled in the U.K. by The Producers, London. Among Bobin’s notable directorial credits are the HBO series Flight of the Conchords (for which he also served as writer/creator and exec producer) and Da Ali G Show (for which he additionally served as a writer)….Wayne Hanson has been named group creative director at McCann’s TAG Ideation, which specializes in engaging the young adult market. Brands in the unit include Dentyne, Goodyear, Nestle Waters and Verizon. Hanson will report to Craig Markus, executive creative director of McCann New York and creative head of the TAG unit. Hanson formerly served as creative director at Attik, San Francisco….Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami and Boulder, Colo., has promoted Alex Bogusky to co-chairman, meaning he will share the mantle of leadership with chairman Chuck Porter. In this role, Bogusky will focus on global expansion and building out agency product design capabilities. Also promoted were Andrew Keller and Rob Reilly to partners/co-executive creative directors. Together Keller and Reilly will manage and oversee day-to-day creative operations….Venice, Calif.-based motion graphics design studio Fish Eggs has added creative director Jeffrey Pittle to its senior design team. Formerly with Las Vegas production studio Media Underground, Pittle will assist executive creative director Chris Roe in overseeing design projects, supervising artists and designers, and making new business presentations….
Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey Launch Production House 34North
Executive producers Ron Cicero and Bo Clancey have teamed to launch 34North. The shop opens with a roster which includes accomplished directors Jan Wentz, Ben Nakamura Whitehouse and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles.
Nakamura Whitehouse, Feil and Fowles come over from CoMPANY Films, the production company for which Cicero served as an EP for the past nearly five years.
Director Wentz had most recently been with production house Skunk while Stewart now gains his first U.S. representation.
EP Clancey was freelance producing prior to the formation of 34North. He and Cicero have known each other for some 25 years, recently reconnecting on a job directed by Fowles. Cicero said that he and Clancey “want to keep a highly focused roster where talent management can be one on one--where we all share in the directors’ success together.”
Clancey also brings an agency pedigree to the new venture. “I started at Campbell Ewald in accounts, no less,” said Clancey. “I saw firsthand how much work agencies put in before we even see a script. You have to respect that investment. These agency experiences really shaped my approach to production--it’s about empathy, listening between the lines, and ultimately making the process seamless.”
34North represents a meeting point--both literally and creatively. Named after the latitude of Malibu, Calif., where the idea for the company was born, it also embraces the power of storytelling. “34North118West was the first GPS-enabled narrative,” Cicero explained. “That blend of art and technology, to captivate an audience, mirrors what we do here--create compelling work, with talented people, harnessing state-of-the-art... Read More