Independent advertising agency Chemistry has promoted Renee Williams Royal to president of Test Tube Productions, its in-house, full-service production arm. In her new role, she will continue to lead the production division and oversee growth, offerings, and creative work for both agency and external clients. Williams Royal previously held the role of VP, head of production.
“Renee is an extremely unique and talented leader,” said Chemistry chairman and CEO, Ned Show. “To run a production company, you need to be, first and foremost, a creative problem solver; Renee is truly the best I’ve ever worked with. She is universally respected and admired inside the company and with every client she works with. Renee’s accomplishments since taking the helm at Test Tube Productions speak for themselves.”
Test Tube Productions handles all types of projects, from large-scale broadcast productions to experiential, social, and radio spots. Since joining the company in April 2022, Williams Royal has been instrumental in tripling the division’s revenue and adding significantly to its employee count. Under her leadership, the team launched a new social media content division within Test Tube, @TestTube, which handles all social content creation and management for GoTo Foods, the parent company of seven brands: Auntie Anne’s®, Carvel®, Cinnabon®, Jamba®, McAlister’s Deli®, Moe’s Southwest Grill®, and Schlotzsky’s®.
Williams Royal brings over a decade of industry experience from agencies including Huge, BBDO Atlanta, and Moxie. Her enthusiasm and commitment to DEI initiatives, mainly introducing those who may not have been exposed to a career path in advertising and production into the industry, has benefited the agency and its clients tremendously. Chemistry, which has pledged that the diversity of each of its five offices reflects the diversity in the corresponding cities, is much closer to reaching its goals with Williams Royal’s help. Test Tube Productions staff is 63% diverse and 72% female.
“I am extremely proud of our brilliant team of content creators, producers, editors, and project managers who have helped scale Test Tube Productions to what it is today,” said Williams Royal. “I’m grateful to step into this new role at such an exciting time for Test Tube as we continue to push creative boundaries and expand our capabilities.”
ESPN and other channels return to DirecTV with a new Disney deal after a nearly 2-week blackout
DirecTV announced Saturday it had reached a deal with Walt Disney Co. that will restore ESPN and ABC-owned stations to its service after a nearly 2-week dispute that blacked out those networks for millions of viewers across the U.S.
The end of the impasse came in time for sports fans to watch ESPN's slate of college football games on DirecTV. It also will ensure that ABC's telecast of the Emmy Awards on Sunday night will be available in more major markets where viewers subscribe to DirecTV's pay service.
ABC had been unavailable since Sept. 1 on DirecTV in several markets where the station is owned by Disney. Those were located in the San Francisco Bay Area; Fresno, California; New York; Chicago; Philadelphia; Houston; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
DirecTV's 11 million subscribers abruptly lost access to ESPN, the ABC-owned stations and other Disney-owned channels such as FX and National Geographic during the Labor Day weekend in a dispute over carriage fees and programming flexibility.
Some viewers were watching the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis tournament when ESPN suddenly went dark and others were getting ready to watch a college football showdown between LSU and Southern California.
The impasse also kept the NFL's opening game of Monday Night Football off of DirecTV's service.
Financial details of Disney's new deal with DirecTV weren't disclosed as part of Saturday's announcement. DirecTV's payments to Disney will be based on "market-based" pricing, according to the announcement about the deal.
The agreement also will give DirecTV the ability to offer Disney's video streaming services a la carte as well as in its own bundled packages. DirecTV won the right to include ESPN's forthcoming direct-to-consumer... Read More