The commercial division of digital studio Reel FX has teamed up with Shilo founder/executive creative director Jose Sebastian Gomez to launch strategic creative group ATK PLN. Gomez will lead the creative vision for the studio, joined by former Digital Domain head of production Jim Riche as executive producer, with overall strategy led by David Bates as managing director. The trio will draw from their expertise across VFX, design, production, interactive media, branding and marketing to deliver comprehensive creative content solutions for clients, offering in-house services from ideation to final delivery. Weaving together in-house creative disciplines will serve to enhance the studio’s robust framework for content creation, augmenting production and post services with a narrative-driven creative strategy that addresses client’s growing needs in the continually evolving media landscape. The team has already created dynamic work for top clients, including AT&T, Fox Racing and MADD.
ATK PLN will work across live design, animation, live action and all combinations of these disciplines to offer clients visual storytelling carefully tailored to their unique business needs. The strategic creative group will work between its new Hollywood studio, Montreal and Dallas locations.
ATK PLN will also partner with sister companies Flight School for their in-depth expertise at the intersection of technology and entertainment, and Reel FX Animation to tap its Golden Globe-nominated entertainment talent and experience for a wide range of projects. The studio will embrace a screen agnostic approach and fuse the boutique sensibility of Shilo with the technical expertise, capabilities and infrastructure of a feature entertainment studio like Reel FX Animation.
Bates returned to Reel FX in 2015 after six years in a strategic leadership role at Bedrock Manufacturing, working on the launch, relaunch, and management of a diverse range of brands, including Shinola and Filson. He got his start in creative marketing for FOSSIL, spending nearly a decade in multiple roles, developing international brand standards as well as leading the creative vision of the in-store experience for stores worldwide. He left FOSSIL to join Reel FX in 2002, evolving to become head of commercial production, bolstering in-house talent and broadening the scope of branded projects. The launch of ATK PLN will fuse Bates’ brand marketing experience with his track record of shaping creative companies to address market shifts.
“The landscape of the marketing and advertising worlds is changing all around us, and the changes are coming at light speed. The modes and methods of communication have changed, and the old ways of working no longer stand,” noted Bates. “New solutions for a new paradigm begin with a complete rethinking of what we’re doing, and not just how we’re doing it.”
Gomez will draw from his background crafting design-driven visuals for brands along with his experience launching a skateboard brand to collaborate with clients, infusing brand essence and strategy into dynamic visually-driven work. “By leveraging Shilo’s design philosophy and creative finesse and Reel FX’s wide scope of technical expertise, we will come together as a powerful content studio,” noted Gomez.
“When I joined David Bates at Reel FX almost two years ago we created a vision to elevate the company to the next level, challenging the status quo of the advertising community to offer a new, unique approach to creative problem solving,” noted Riche. “Bringing on Jose Gomez and his creative vision to our team at ATK PLN is allowing us to turn our ideas into reality. I am excited about how this forward-thinking team will continue to evolve with the changing market.”
