London-based production company FRIEND has signed director Dax Martinez-Vargas, formerly one-half of the comedy duo Sniper Twins. Having co-founded Sniper Twins at film school in Texas, Martinez-Vargas went on to spend five years writing and directing multi-award winning promos in the MTV On-Air Promos department. Since then, he has gone on to create notable work with such agencies as Droga5, Grey, Mother, and BBH. Martinez-Vargas has directed for brands including Carling, Coors, Burger King and Mentos, helping to establish a reputation for cinematically stylized comedy spots. Martinez-Vargas continues to be handled in the U.S. by production house m ss ng p eces….
Production house Ruffian has opened in Los Angeles under the aegis of founder/EP Robert Herman whose extensive industry experience includes having run global house Stink as managing director/COO for 16 years. Ruffian is repped on the West Coast by Bueno and on the East Coast by RepresentationCo….
Cast & Crew Entertainment Services, a provider of technology-enabled payroll and production-management services to the entertainment industry, has promoted entertainment payroll expert Durressa Powers to VP of payroll operations for Burbank. In her new position, Powers will continue to oversee the company’s Burbank payroll-processing department, client onboarding team, account management and specialized staff of payroll coordinators. Powers also will be helping to lead the implementation of Cast & Crew’s new Payroll+ Suite technology designed to digitize production management. Powers, who joined Cast & Crew in 2014, has more than 15 years of experience in the payroll industry, with nine of those years specializing in entertainment payroll. She has managed payroll accounts and departments, as well as the implementation of new software….
