U.S. and U.K. edit shops WAX and The Quarry, respectively, have teamed to bring The Quarry’s editors to the U.S. market. With bases of operation in NYC, Boston, London and plans to expand to the West Coast, the new, full service WAX/The Quarry collaboration, referred to as WAX in the US, will be led by managing partner Toni Lipari and editor/partners Paul Watts, Stephen Jess and Bruce Townend. The U.S.-based WAX operation offers capabilities such as live-action production, editorial, telecine, VFX design and finishing. Alongside partners Jess, Watts and Townend, the collaboration will feature a stable of well-known artists/editors including Eddie Ringer, Jonnie Scarlett, Scot Crane, Jason Sager, Georgia Dodson, Adam Biskupski, Flaura Atkinson, Sylvie Landra, Owen Oppenheimer, and Mark Whelan.
Global digital agency Isobar has promoted Dave Meeker to global director, emerging technology. In addition to his current U.S. responsibilities as a VP, Meeker will be responsible for expanding Isobar’s innovation and emerging technology offering globally. He will report to Jean Lin, global CEO, Isobar and Geoff Cubitt, CEO, Isobar US. Meeker will be responsible for furthering Isobar’s global innovation capabilities to support clients in the digital transformation journey. In his global role, he will serve as the head of Isobar’s NowLab, a global initiative to catalyze innovation across Isobar’s 85 offices via 17 Isobar NowLab facilities. He will also work with Isobar’s regional market leaders to set global innovation agenda relating to emerging trends and technologies, while focusing on scalable solutions that can be applied to the evolving needs of Isobar’s global clients. Meeker is additionally tasked with managing global partnership relationships for emerging technology and innovation, with the goal of bolstering the agency’s offering in innovating digital product and service design. Meeker is currently responsible for guiding the strategic direction of client engagements and the digital products and services that Isobar U.S. brings to market. Meeker’s hybrid background spans business, design, and technology. He manages Isobar’s relationship and ongoing collaborations with the MIT Media Lab and has worked with Isobar clients such as HBO, Google, Facebook, NBCUniversal, Bloomberg, Motorola Mobility/Lenovo, Samsung, and Tesla Motors. He was instrumental in the development of Isobar’s Virtual Reality Emotional Measurement and Analytics Platform, the world’s first platform to capture and analyze behavioral data in virtual reality. Meeker also advises on emerging technologies and trends for parent company, Dentsu Aegis Network….
Director Bram Van Riet, a native of Antwerp, Belgium, and now a resident of San Francisco, has joined the Toronto-based Sequoia Content for Canadian representation. The move reunites him with executive producer Suzanne Allan, his former EP when he was with Imported Artists. Van Riet is an experienced European filmmaker who’s a co-founder of the international production company Caviar, which continues to represent him in the U.S., U.K., France and Belgium. Known for his emotional films that tell sensitive, human stories in largely visual terms, Van Riet grew up in a creative environment. His father, Jan Van Riet, is a noted Belgian artist, painter and poet, and his mother, Simone Lenaerts, a novelist. Not surprisingly, Van Riet was exposed to an eclectic mix of artistic influences, and found his passion in filmmaking. Bram Van Riet’s work includes heartwarming spots for brands like Toyota, in which a young couple find their Toyota SUV easily meets the needs of their growing family. For Academy Sports, he tells the story of a young boy who asks him mom for a new baseball glove, only so he can give it to boy next door, and the two can play catch. His Bounty “Let the Spills Begin,” produced for P&G’s Olympics sponsorship, depicts budding athletes spilling all sorts of liquids around the house as they practice gymnastics, track and field and soccer right at home….
