Director Vaughan Arnell has signed with Stink for worldwide representation (excluding France). He was formerly affiliated with Serious Pictures; his last jobs there being the Robbie Williams music video “Shame” and an M&S campaign for RKCR/Y&R, London. Arnell has been directing solo since 1996; prior to that he was half of the directing duo Vaughan+Anthea (with Anthea Benton) which turned out such lauded commercials as Stella Artois' “Red Shoes” and Levi's “Creek”….Director Robert Maya has joined Los Angeles-headquartered production house Form. He had earlier been repped in the U.S. by Hoytyboy Pictures…..DUCK Studios in Los Angeles has signed Milan, Italy-based hybrid creative collective/motion design studio abstract:groove for representation in the U.S…..Matt MacDonald has been promoted from creative director to executive creative director at JWT New York. He has been a driving force at JWT behind brands including Macy's, JetBlue, Smirnoff, De Beers, L.L.Bean and Pfizer. He was co-creator of Macy's new network TV Xmas special Yes, Virginia, which received critical acclaim as well as three Lions at Cannes. MacDonald was also instrumental in the creation of JetBlue's “The Flyer's Collection” campaign….Mark Coleran has joined San Francisco-based motion design and integrated media company Bonfire as design director. Coleran is a high-profile designer of Fantasy User Interfaces (FUIs) for feature film and will leverage that experience to bring FUIs into real-world production for Bonfire's roster of technology clients. He will work closely with Bonfire executive producer Julia Sonder-Patchin, executive creative director/partner Matt Silverman and creative directors Barry Musterteiger and Phil Spitler to oversee the development of interactive design and graphic user interfaces for Bonfire's consumer electronics clients. Before joining Bonfire, Coleran spent three years as director of human interaction & visual design at Gridiron Software in Ottawa, Canada, where he created the UI for the award-winning workflow application Flow. While he's done numerous broadcast titles and promos through companies in London such as Double Negative, it's his work designing computer interfaces for the big screen that have made him a go-to artist for major Hollywood productions. Coleran's credits include imaginative and futuristic computer interfaces for 27 movies, including Transformers, The Bourne Ultimatum, Children of Men, The Island and Mission Impossible 3. Bonfire is a sister company to S.F.-based Phoenix Editorial….
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