People on the Move

Venables Bell + Partners (VB+P) has promoted Brittni Hutchins to associate partner, managing director. In this new role, she’ll continue to drive growth initiatives, oversee client partnerships, support the company’s commitment to creative excellence, and oversee agency marketing efforts. Hutchins will also play a key role in championing VB+P’s guiding principle of “do right by people” (clients, consumers, and employees) in all facets of its business and processes. Hutchins previously held the post of associate partner, chief growth officer. 

“We want more of what Brittni does best: she drives our work to have the greatest possible impact for our clients,” said Paul Venables, VB+P founder and chairman. “In her new role as managing director, Brittni will be deeply involved in everything we do as she leads our people, partners with our clients, and shapes and markets our offerings. Brittni having more influence on more aspects of our business means only good things for VB+P and our clients.”

Hutchins initially worked with VB+P earlier in her career as a brand team leader and returned in 2021 as the agency’s head of growth and marketing. In early 2023, she was promoted to associate partner, chief growth officer. She made a tremendous impact in both of these roles, first working with agency leadership to overhaul the company’s growth strategies and then subsequently securing 17 new partnerships with established and emerging brands, including Girl Scouts of the USA, AG1, Bob Evans Farms, Affirm, Opendoor, Peelz, Bay Alarm, Chrome Industries, and PepsiCo brand Off The Eaten Path.

Hutchins has also heavily influenced the agency’s work by spearheading creative initiatives and partnerships that aim to positively affect critical cultural issues and challenges today, including reproductive rights, book bans across the U.S., hate incidents against the AAPI community, and LGBTQIA+ mental health. In her free time, Brittni also founded “Women That Fight (WTF),” a collective of senior women in advertising compelled to take action on current pressing issues facing women. 

Creative and technology studio Preymaker has added colorist Mark Sanna to its creative team. Among his credits are campaigns for Verizon, Google, Ralph Lauren and McDonald’s, as well as most recently Xfinity’s highly acclaimed “Aviators,” from director Kathryn Bigelow and cinematographer Greig Fraser, both Academy Award winners. One of the world’s first 100% cloud-native studios, Preymaker with the hire of Sanna fortifies its pioneering “Color in the Cloud” offering--which they launched in 2021, billed as a world first for color grading. Sanna will be available to collaborate in person with directors, cinematographers and creatives at Preymaker’s brand new, Manhattan studio while also having the capability to host color sessions and collaborate with clients based anywhere in the world using Preymaker’s virtual “Cloud-Stage.” 
 
Sanna brings extensive creative experience in lighting, compositing, design and animation, making him uniquely nimble as a colorist and able to leverage the creative team and tools in Preymaker’s fully integrated creative cloud pipeline from beginning to completion of any project. 
 
Angus Kneale, chief creative at Preymaker, said, “Mark’s experience is invaluable, He has made a name for himself crafting high quality content and creating stunning work for clients. Mark is highly collaborative and works closely with directors, creatives and cinematographers to create truly memorable work. Mark is also very excited about innovating and defining new ways of doing things. The way we approach color gives our clients a huge advantage to work on color throughout the entire creative process, not just at the beginning or the end. Virtual, in real-time at the highest quality from anywhere in the world through the entire creative process.”
 
“Preymaker offered me an opportunity to carve out a unique role for myself,” Sanna explained. “VFX and color are best when integrated into the same pipeline, so I’m able to refine and make adjustments throughout the entire creative process without having to break the VFX or finishing flow of work. Color in Preymaker’s Cloud gives our clients a huge advantage in quality and speed. As a colorist I get the best of both worlds. I can collaborate in-person with directors, cinematographers and creatives working out of the Color Suite in our new SoHo Studio and I get to use the latest in cutting edge technology.  I always enjoy the agile experimentation every project entails.”
 
Sanna’s body of work shares in common a cinematic aesthetic, but isn’t limited to any one style. Sanna said he prefers to “stay adaptable in this fast moving space, work collaboratively and deploy a design-focused methodology to each project’s different needs.” 
 
Sanna has been colorist for a number of short films, including the award-winning Foreign People, directed by Michelle Roginsky. Set against beautiful landscapes and a rich color palette, the film depicts a Ukrainian/Russian couple whose relationship unravels as they drive toward Tijuana to cross the border at the onset of the war in Ukraine. He also was colorist on the tactile and hypnotic immersive short Winter, director and artist Jamie Scott’s latest seasonal time-lapse film which was shot over five years across New York State and Montreal, and on music videos for artists Pink Siifu and Fly Anakin
 

Emmy winner Joseph Kasparian is joining Rodeo FX as executive visual effects supervisor. Kasparian’s journey is punctuated by numerous notable achievements, including his pivotal role in shaping the visual landscape of projects such as Jurassic World, Warcraft and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Formerly creative VP at Hybride, Kasparian has collaborated on every Star Wars movie and series since 2015. His contributions to the groundbreaking series The Mandalorian (season 2) with Lucasfilm, which earned him an Emmy in 2021, along with his recent Emmy nomination for Andor (season 1), firmly establish him as a key figure in the Star Wars VFX universe.

“Constantly reinventing yourself is essential due to the evolution of technology. I’ve always been forward-thinking, looking ahead to what’s next. Rodeo feels like a natural progression for me,” said Kasparian. “It goes beyond visual effects, it’s about entertainment as a whole and how I can share the craft and the knowledge I’ve developed these past 25+ years with incredible people.”

Kasparian will be joining Ara Khanikian, an Emmy-nominated and VES Award winner, as they take on the role of overseeing Rodeo FX’s team of 16 VFX supervisors. Together, they will support CEO and founder Sebastien Moreau and Jordan Soles, VP of development & innovation, in maintaining the studio’s growth trajectory and high quality standards.

Rodeo FX has recently completed several high-profile projects, including Masters of the Air, Dune: Part 2, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and House of the Dragon (season 2).

Rosabel “Rosie” Murai has joined Team One as chief media officer. Murai will be responsible for further deepening Team One’s integrated marketing approach and ensuring continued impact for the agency’s roster of clients, including Lexus and the Lexus Dealer Association, Marriott International, The Ritz-Carlton, Barclays Bank, The RealReal, HKS Architects, KB Home, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, HP Inc., Simplot, and Cathay Pacific Airlines. 

This marks Murai’s return to Team One after executive tenures at OMD, Deutsch, Canvas and Twitter (currently known as X), where she drove numerous brand-building, media-led efforts for top automotive, SaaS and financial services clients, particularly for the Millennial/Gen Y and Gen Z consumer. In light of this experience, her remit at Team One includes leading Team One’s PR and influencer, experiential and events, and media capabilities across all clients, in tandem to connecting paid and owned channels seamlessly for agency clients. 

“The role of a chief media officer has evolved dramatically in the last few years--and requires a special kind of leadership with big creative ambition to develop talked-about integrated programs while at the same time possessing a deep fluency in data, platforms and systems,” said Julie Michael, CEO, Team One. “On top of that, Team One always looks to hire ‘the partnering kind’ as we find that employees who lead with positivity and kindness are most successful. Rosie fits that bill in spades. She is a modern thinker who understands the next generation of consumers and is poised to guide our clients into the future.”

Murai said, “The marketing landscape has undergone an incredible shift over the past decade or so, and in order to stay relevant, brands have to meet consumers where they are. I’m excited to come back to Team One, which has long had such a deeply integrated practice, and support the agency’s efforts to bridge smart, strategic ideas with meaningful, intentional execution for our clients and partners.”