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.
Merman makes its signing of Ritesh Gupta official; company takes on U.S. representation for the director
Merman has officially announced the signing of director Ritesh Gupta for commercial representation in the U.S. Gupta had joined Merman last year but was working on a feature film for most of 2024 so the production company held off until now on making the signing public.
The director is a former award-winning sports journalist and creative director. He’s created noteworthy campaigns from Budweiser’s viral “Dwyane Wade: This Bud’s for 3,” which he directed, to the multi-award winning Beats by Dre campaign “You Love Me,” which Gupta worked on as group creative director at the agency Translation. The “You Love Me” film, which was directed by Melina Matsoukas, earned a primetime commercial Emmy nomination in 2021 as well as a DGA Award win for PRETTYBIRD director Matsoukas. This marked the second Emmy nod for Gupta. Back in his MTV days he was a producer on a documentary, Aftershock: Diary of Gideon in Pakistan, which garnered a News & Documentary Emmy nomination.
As a director, Gupta’s approach is to layer a truthful authenticity ingrained during his time as a journalist--along with an emotional intelligence he honed storytelling in the documentary world--to craft his own evocative and unique cinematic style. In addition to his two Emmy nods, he has netted four Webbys, six AICP wins, eight Cannes Lions, 25 Clios and recognition from ADCOLOR and the ANDYs.
“Ritesh brings a unique perspective to his storytelling,” said Merman global director Ellen Clarke. “He has the ability to identify the multilayers of a narrative and its characters, weaving them impactfully together. His strength lies in his connection to the talent’s performance and discovering the authenticity within the story.”
Gupta said,... Read More