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On Thursday, January 30, 2014, The Napoleon Group celebrated the opening of the company’s new Los Angeles office with an exclusive cocktail party for clients, colleagues and friends at Santa Monica’s picturesque Casa del Mar Hotel by the Sea.

Napoleon, the leading previz, commercial test and digital content company, played host to 30-plus creative directors, art directors, producers, copywriters and account executives from L.A.’s top advertising agencies, editorial houses and digital solutions providers. Mingling amid the warm paneled walls, potted palms and leather armchairs of Casa del Mar’s cozy Library were creatives and account folk from Pitch, Ogilvy & Mather, Saatchi & Saatchi LA, RPA, Cutters and Xivic.

The evening’s menu featured a selection of hor d’oeuvres—charcuterie and California farmstead cheese, sushi, wagyu and veggie sliders, crispy artichoke, bacon-wrapped dates and assorted pizzas—prepared by Jason Bowlin, executive chef at the Hotel’s famed Catch restaurant, Season 5 cast member of Bravo TV’s popular Top Chef Masters and brother of Dustin Bowlin, Napoleon’s new West Coast Business Development Executive.

“Working with Napoleon has been nothing short of a pleasure at every turn,” says Xanthe Wells, Chief Creative Officer at Pitch. “Not only are they incredibly collaborative, but they are talented, patient and resourceful. We are thrilled that they have opened a West Coast office—it will make our relationship that much stronger."

Her Pitch colleague, Executive Producer/VP, Agency Growth Spiro Kafarakis, agreed.

"It was incredibly kind and thoughtful of Napoleon New York to invite our team to the launch of their West Coast expansion,” he says. “They are a spectacular partner and we very much look forward to growing with them."

Napoleon’s Los Angeles Business Development Executive Dustin Bowlin says the feeling is mutual.

"The event was a resounding success,” says Bowlin. “We were thrilled to meet many new folks, as well as toast with those we have worked with in the past. A fun night."

The new West Coast office is the latest facet of The Napoleon Group’s continued expansion which began with the company’s 2013 move to a 14,000-square-foot custom-built facility in New York’s lively Flatiron District. As Business Development Executive, Bowlin will serve all clients west of the Mississippi, customizing The Napoleon Group’s portfolio of products and services to best meet their needs.

View the full photo gallery from the event.

The Napoleon Group
Art. Craft. Ingenuity. Those are the deliverables that distinguish The Napoleon Group and the reasons creative thinkers and innovative brands trust us to instill impact and performance in their previsualization and test advertising.

Drawing on an evolving portfolio of specialized services and styles—animatics, cinematics, live production, art, audio, 3D VFX/motion graphics—Napoleon fashions captivating experiences that spark consumer curiosity, inspire brand loyalty and fuel product sales. In short, we provide deeper consumer insights and consistently higher test scores by creating customized content that connects, compels and converts.

Founded in 1985, The Napoleon Group is a full-service previz and post-production company with a legacy of unrivaled authority and an eye firmly focused on the future. Seizing an opportunity for growth and expansion in 2013, Napoleon moved to New York's nexus of creativity and technology, the vibrant Flatiron District, and created a dream studio—a one-of-a-kind, more than 14,000-square-foot contemporary office and facility on two floors that's perfectly suited to the changing nature of the advertising business.

The new project-centric space features a 12-camera Vicon Bonita motion-capture system, a spacious green-screen stage and custom-built edit and audio suites that combine comfort with a stylish efficiency, all seamlessly tied together with state-of-the-art infrastructure. The studio boasts an open-air workspace for 40-plus animators, editors, designers, illustrators, modelers, compositors, scripters, character artists, motion-graphics artists, producers and creative directors that facilitates creative synergy among staff and clients alike and inspires our savvy storytellers to greater heights.

For industry-leading talent, a collaborative culture and a facility designed to exhilarate, agencies seeking a truly creative partnership know where to turn: The Napoleon Group.