Los Angeles-based HELLO! has signed director Robert Hales for commercial, integrated, and music video representation. His credits include videos for artists such as Justin Timberlake, Gnarls Barkley, Britney Spears, Kings of Leon, Miley Cyrus, Janet Jackson, and Nine Inch Nails, and commercials for Mazda, Microsoft, AT&T, Givenchy, Southern Comfort, Smart Car, and Levi’s, among others. Hale’s Jet’s clip “Are You Gonna be My Girl” won Best Rock Video at the 2004 MTV VMA Awards and only two years later his Rorschach-themed music video for Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” won the MTV VMA for Best Direction….Deutsch New York has hired Helen O’Neill as VP, director of art production. She was most recently director of art production for Young + Rubicam N.Y. O’Neill earlier served in the same capacity at Mother NYC, where she produced work for Dell, Virgin Mobile, 10 Cane Rum, Rembrandt, K-Y and other clients for Mother Advertising, Mother Productions and Mother Design. She also produced two of the Mother books: “Yo, Check the Perm” and “I Date aHooker,” as well as images for a line of candy, gum and air fresheners….Following its acquisition by Francisco Partners, Grass Valley has formed an executive team which will be headquartered in San Francisco and led by president/CEO Alain Andreoli, most recently an operating partner at Francisco Partners, and prior to that in such leadership roles as president of Sun Microsystems Europe and chairman/CEO of Hubwoo. Jeff Rosica has bee named Grass Valley exec VP/chief sales and marketing officer. Rosica is an industry and company veteran who previously served as a sr. VP and division head for the organization. And Grass Valley has hired Ian Halifax as executive VP/CFO….
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