Kristen Bedard Johnson joins New York-based Lively Group. Bedard Johnson’s diverse expertise in film production, talent management, post-production and live entertainment will support her new role in managing sales for Lively Group, as well as creating the groundbreaking division of Lively Experience that will serve to create meaningful brand relationships both on and offline.
Bedard Johnson began her career in the theatre world before transitioning into advertising. Most recently, she spent three years as Head of East Coast Sales and Development for Furlined. Prior to Furlined, Bedard Johnson acted as East Coast Sales Rep for New York-based VFX studio Gravity, and held the same position for global production studio @radical.media.
As the media landscape has evolved, Lively Group has consistently readjusted their multidisciplinary DNA, assembling the right teams and tools to offer clients the most effective creative solutions across various platforms. In her new role, Bedard Johnson will be poised to offer the breadth of services provided by the Lively Group network of companies – creative editing company BlueRock; design and animation studio Spontaneous; luxury, lifestyle and fashion specialists Scarlett; finishing house Ballistic; and digital partner Rain – in a combination of infinite possibility.
“The fit with Lively Group is natural and effortless for me,” remarks Bedard Johnson. “With our combination of world-class capabilities and talent, we’re able to create a cohesive brand story across visual and experiential platforms in one fluid, collaborative process. With the resources of the group behind us, Lively Experiential can take the seed of an idea and make it grow to infinite heights.”
With Lively Experience, Bedard Johnson will be working with celebrated artists from outside the traditional advertising space to create narrative brand experiences that engage the consumer in an innovative, authentic and profound way.
The arrival of Bedard Johnson is the latest move for a company with adaptation and reinvention at its core. Recently Spontaneous hired branding expert Darryl Mascarenhas in the role of Executive Creative Director, and BlueRock added accomplished editor Jim Helton and rising star J.P. Damboragian to their award-winning roster.
Despite Beyoncé, Sabrina Carpenter and Kendrick Lamar, ratings for the Grammys fall
Ratings for the Grammy Awards dipped from last year, despite the nail-biting tension of whether Beyoncé would win album of the year and a surprise appearance by The Weeknd.
Sunday night's broadcast on CBS was seen by 15.4 million viewers according to Nielsen. That represents a decline from 2024, which was seen by 16.9 million, a 34% increase from the year before.
The numbers so far only account for viewers on CBS. The telecast was also available to stream by those who purchased the Paramount+ With Showtime package. Due to last month's devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, the Grammys scaled back marketing efforts ahead of the Grammys and canceled several pre-Grammy events.
The three-hour-plus show — with Trevor Noah once again hosting — took place in a Los Angeles still reeling from the wildfires and celebrated the past year's most popular artists, with performances by Billie Eilish, Chappell Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli xcx.
The show raised nearly $9 million for wildfire relief efforts.
Kendrick Lamar won song and record of the year for his diss track "Not Like Us," taking home two of the night's most prestigious awards, and Shakira won Latin pop album for "Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran."
Read More