Director Joel Peissig has signed with bicoastal design/production studio Imaginary Forces (IF) to helm commercials. Peissig had most recently been working as an independent director in the U.S. and overseas. His past affiliations include RSA, Notorious and Squeak Pictures…..Ramsey Dean has come aboard Spank! Music & Sound Design, Chicago, as head of music supervision….Creative design and digital production studio The Syndicate, Santa Monica, has hired CG supervisor Adam Watkins for its commercial and feature film projects. Watkins, who joins The Syndicate from Digital Backlot, has among his credits John Adams, There Will Be Blood, The Golden Compass, Evan Almighty and 3:10 To Yuma…On the heels of its launch of a CG operation, San Francisco-based Spy Post has opened an editorial services division that will feature the talents of editors Edward Feldman and Nathan Petty who come over from Umlaut, San Francisco…New York-based design and production studio Click 3X has added five staffers: producers Jared Yeater, Emily Gleicher and Carson Hood, junior designer/illustrator Gabriel Tick and junior motion graphics designer Erica Gorochow….Martin/Williams Advertising, Minneapolis, has hired Lori Yeager Davis as senior VP/director of strategic engagement. She formerly served as VP of Space 150, an interactive agency in Minneapolis. Prior to that she was with Campbell-Mithun Advertising, Minneapolis, as an associate planning director and then as senior VP/managing director for the agency’s youth marketing practice….Bicoastal Brand New School has added CG supervisor Vadim Turchin…Designer/animator Kelli Miller has joined New York-based creative studio Thornberg & Forester…
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, David Edwards and Mario Feil, as well as such up-and-coming filmmakers as Glenn Stewart and Chris Fowles. Nakamura Whitehouse, Edwards, 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