Award-winning entertainment branding and marketing veteran Curt Doty has launched Vertuoso as the industry’s first creative and production agency specifically focused on “Vertical Storytelling” (think Snapchat). Vertuoso will work with studios, networks, brands, agencies, and media companies to collaborate on creating and optimizing their video campaigns – promotional campaigns for movies and TV shows, and advertising campaigns for brands and services – by taking advantage of the latest consumer behaviors in their consumption of social video. The new company is based in LA, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Doty, who has long specialized in integrated marketing, multi-channel storytelling, branding, identity, and user experience, will serve as CEO of Vertuoso.
Prior to launching Vertuoso in 2017 and his consultancy CurtDoty.co in 2014, Doty held creative executive positions within Weber Shandwick (Senior VP), Universal Pictures (VP, Creative Services), Trailer Park (President, Advanced Content), and Pittard Sullivan (Executive VP/Executive Creative Director), working on projects for major entertainment, media, and brand clientele. Earlier, he had also been a Creative Director with 3 Ring Circus.
Doty also announced today that Greg Babiuk has been named Executive Producer for Vertuoso. Babiuk is an award-winning creative development and media production executive with over 20 years of experience across all media.
Regarding the launch of his new enterprise, Doty said, “My passion lies at the intersection of design, content, and technology. I have been fortunate enough to have worked on entertainment branding and marketing campaigns for many of the biggest companies in the world for the past few decades. With Social Video driving the adoption of square and vertical formats, we believe that Mobile Advertising should provide the same, and, at times, an even more interactive, viral experience. Vertuoso will provide our clients with multi-platform storytelling across multiple channels, with an ‘Always On’ approach to achieve ‘Flightless’ campaigns.”
Adds Babiuk, “Looking ahead, we believe that a major element of future marketing campaigns will involve Vertical Storytelling. We hold our phones vertically 94% of the time. Vertical viewing has increased 600% over the last 5 years, while vertical videos have nine times higher completion rates. Users want vertical content now, more than ever. We will focus our creativity and technological expertise on this new marketing tool, which we believe will quickly become invaluable for our clients.”
Concurrent with its launch Vertuoso has also assembled an impressive Advisory Board. The Board is comprised of: Spencer Gerrol, CEO of SPARK Neuro ,
a company which he founded on the principle of employing neuroscience in advertising and entertainment; David Shor, the CEO of Prove , and a veteran technologist, marketer, and analytics expert; and Hassan Wharton-Ali, CEO of AboveLine Media , who has over 18 years of experience in the media and entertainment industries working at major companies including Technicolor, Hulu, and Miramax.
Regarding the launch of Vertuoso, the company’s Board Members said:
- Spencer Gerrol: “We've seen the evidence that vertical video can be a major advantage; however, we have also seen cases when it underperforms. That's why I am excited about the launch of Vertuoso. They are developing a deep research-driven understanding about how to best optimize that exact format, with mobile and social context top of mind.”
- Hassan Wharton-Ali, “With the rapidly changing landscape of how video is consumed, Virtuoso is uniquely positioned. Curt and his team know how to enhance the way videos are shot and produced, so as to maximize their effectiveness in driving audience awareness through vertical storytelling. Research shows us that this is clearly the wave of the future.”
About CURT DOTY
Creative Entrepreneur Curt Doty, a multi-award-winning creative director, brings his leadership experience across the entertainment, marketing and branding worlds to his new company, Vertuoso. For the past three years his consulting firm, CurtDoty.co – which he continues to helm in addition to this role as CEO of Vertuoso – has been working with such top agencies as Rogers & Cowan, Troika, Prove, Walton Isaacson, and SynaVoice, helping marketing and PR campaigns for such major clients accounts as The Grammys, Abbott, Maserati, AARP, HUD, Spalding, Wizard World, Red Bull, Starz, and many more.
Doty has an extensive legacy in television, having led the creative departments of such legendary agencies as Pittard Sullivan and 3 Ring Circus, where his work was seen around the world. He has over 10 years expertise in the production/post-production world, directing all of his own live action shoots, as well as shoots promoting his conceived branding and storytelling image campaigns on behalf of such major clients as Warner Bros. TV, TV Guide, Discovery, ABC, FX, StarTV Asia, and SAT.1.
Doty’s 10 years in the movie marketing business included a creative executive role at Universal Pictures, where he produced integrated marketing campaigns for new releases, generating great reviews and industry awards. He also led the Advanced Content Group at Trailer Park, focusing on Original Content for the studios.
His migration into PR and content marketing led him to Weber Shandwick, where he built a creative and content group in LA. His brand clients during this time included GM, Carl’s Jr., Bausch + Lomb, Pond’s, Covered California, Degree, GoGo, Motorola, Genentech, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, TracFone, USPS, Ubisoft, Abbott, and Motorola, among others.
A two-time Emmy Award nominee, Doty is the recipient of numerous industry honors, including Promax/BDA, Telly, New York Festivals, KeyArt and Digital Entertainment Group Awards. He has long been, and continues to be, a thought leader, visionary, and outspoken creative executive on the latest developments taking place across the fields of Technology, Content and Design.
About GREG BABIUK
Vertuoso’s Executive Producer Greg Babiuk is an award-winning creative development and media production executive with over 20 years experience. His extensive background in multiple facets of media production afford him a vast range of expertise and unique perspective. Babiuk has long been recognized for building and directing exceptional, creative teams from diverse backgrounds for various types of productions, including TV Commercials, Digital Media, Visual Effects, Animation, and Branded Content, as well as marketing engagements including Interactive, Print, Out-of-Home, and Experiential.
Babiuk has produced multi-faceted projects for such clients as MGM Grand at Foxwoods, Kaiser Permanente, NBCUniversal, VH1, Comedy Central, Target, CAA, and Chipotle. Prior to launching his own consultancy, Passarola Pictures, he was the Executive Producer at renowned motion picture marketing agency Bemis Balkind. Prior to that, he served as the Managing Partner and Creative Director at Angry Villagers, where he developed one of the first interactive storybooks for children on a mobile platform.
Earlier in his career, Babiuk co-launched and served as the Executive Producer of INTERspectacular, a boutique creative design and production studio. He also held notable creative positions as a producer at Pittard Sullivan, and as a visual effects director at R/GA and Filmworkers Club.
About VERTUOSO
Founded by branding/marketing executive Curt Doty in 2017, and located in Los Angeles, New York and Santa Fe, New Mexico, Vertuoso works with brands, agencies, studios, networks, and media companies to collaborate on enhancing and optimizing video campaigns to take advantage of the newest behaviors in the consumption of social video.
Vertuoso is also a production company that sources the best DP’s and crews from across the country to accept this new challenge of shooting and framing for landscape and portrait. Using Design to drive a story graphically is becoming increasingly more critical to the industry, and has become tantamount to enticing the public’s behavior, since marketers can no longer rely on traditional paradigms of audio, music, and dialogue to propel a story. With the increased use of infographics and explainer videos, Design plays a bolder role in retaining attention.
Vertuoso also incorporates Neuroscience studies into its workflow, to measure the emotions and attention of viewers to the millisecond. Utilizing this approach, Vertuoso can enhance each of its clients’ campaigns, and can better help educate its diverse, global client base. The company’s phone is: 310.994.7810. Please see: www.vertuoso.co
