Sam Walsh, general manager of bicoastal/international Propaganda Films’ Commercial and Music Video Division for the past year, has relinquished that post to enter into a first-look production deal with Propaganda. Walsh remains part of the Propaganda family and will primarily be involved in developing traditional TV programming, as well as new media content for advertisers.
Helping to free Walsh so that he could embark on this new career chapter was the hiring of former Wieden+Kennedy (W+K) mainstay Charles Wolford as VP/executive producer of Propaganda sister company Satellite. Walsh and Trevor Macy, COO of the overall Propaganda, which also encompasses talent management and feature film operations, led the executive search that eventually landed Wolford. During the past three and a half years, Wolford headed up European production for W+K, working out of the agency’s Amsterdam office. Prior to that, he had been a producer at W+K, Portland, Ore. Succeeding him as head of European production at W+K, Amsterdam, is senior producer Donna Lamar.
As GM, Walsh was responsible for overseeing and refining the business and production processes for the spot and music video divisions of Propaganda and Satellite. But with Wolford taking the Satellite reins effective Oct. 1, and Colin Hickson continuing as VP/executive producer of Propaganda Films, Walsh can now focus on producing, taking advantage of his agency contacts to develop longer-form projects for advertisers. He intends to tap into Propaganda’s and Satellite’s directorial rosters-as well as Propaganda Management’s talent pool of helmers and writers-for those projects. There will be no successor to Walsh’s GM title, as those duties have pretty much been apportioned between Hickson and Wolford, who both report directly to Macy and Propaganda president Rick Hess.
Given his longstanding advertising agency background, which includes four years as head of production at Publicis & Hal Riney, San Francisco, Walsh found himself being sought after by ad shop and client colleagues to help develop TV program and new media content. "There have been some terrific opportunities that I would have liked to have further explored for Propaganda, but couldn’t because my focus was on operations at Propaganda and Satellite," related Walsh. "Now I can pursue those opportunities on behalf of Propaganda, and fully develop the marriage of commerce and content." He will be doing this at a time when "advertisers and agencies look to become involved in TV programs and emerging media, including content for the Internet." Walsh also plans to look into Propaganda’s forming relationships with several enterprises in the traditional and new media sectors.
"Everyone seems to be grappling with the next generation of advertising," observed Walsh. "Survivor with its Reebok shoe tie-in, and people on the island making calls on Ericsson phones, is sort of sophisticated product placement. In a sense it hearkens back to the early days of television when we had sponsors involved in program production [e.g., Philco Playhouse, Texaco Star Theater]. But Survivor also represents a glimpse of the future, with interactivity and viewer options that help access more information or opportunities for commerce. There are chat rooms and accompanying Internet content. Either via a set-top box on a TV or on the Web, interactivity and transactions triggered by shows can happen immediately. … Agencies and clients have been asking me to help them explore this new landscape, with the help of Propaganda’s creative and production resources."
