The directing team of Marandi/Heath, consisting of Sara Marandi and Brendan Heath, has rejoined CoMPANY, the Los Angeles-based production house headed by executive producer Robin Benson. The Marandi/Heath duo first joined CoMPANY at its inception in 2006, then took off to work in Europe via Bandits in Paris and Tempomedia in Germany which continue to rep the directors for international work. Now Marandi/Heath–after working in the U.S. for a year through their own company, Imposter–has returned to CoMPANY….Director Sebastian Reed has signed with Little Minx….OLSON has hired Dennis Ryan as chief creative officer, a new position at the Minneapolis-headquartered agency. He formerly served as partner/CCO at Element 79, Chicago. Ryan earlier was an executive creative director at JWT Chicago and prior to that was at DDB Chicago….Vince Genovese, formerly director of broadcast production for McCann Worldgroup‘s L.A. and San Francisco offices, has come aboard San Francisco-based content creation and production company Rehab as a partner and director of production. Other Rehab partners are executive producer Nathan Brown and director Sean Leman….
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