PRODUCTION COMPANIES

Global production house BlueYed Pictures added director and photographer Julie Dennis Brothers to its roster.

Circle Productions signed director Adam Massey and hired Kristian Andresen, former EP of Famous Kids Vancouver, as exec producer in the Toronto office.

Toronto's Code Film signed director/cameraman Jeth Weinrich.

David Naylor & Associates/DNA announced that it will represent the roster of UK production company Pagan in the US. Pagan's roster includes director Vaughan Arnell, photographer-turned-director Rankin and music video team Max & Dania.

Hollywood's HKM has signed director Timothy Kendall for commercial representation.

Toronto's Industry Films signed director Matt Eastman for commercials.

Toronto's LTB Films signed director George D'Amato for Canadian rep.

Norwegian/Scandinavian Motion Blur signed director Thomas Hilland for representation in Scandinavia.

Santa Monica-based MotivFilms signed former Bozell-Bonneville head of

production Grant Baird to its directorial roster.

NY prodco Spontaneous added Melissa August and Scott Valins as senior producer and senior designer.

Santa Monica's Thomas Winter Cooke hired Jeff Snyder as head of production.

POST / AUDIO / ANIMATION

Burbank post house AlphaDogs hired Sean Williams as graphic designer.

New York's Curious Pictures hired Lewis Kofsky, formerly of PDI/Dreamworks, as head of computer graphics and visual effects

Chicago's Foundation Post hired Kevin McGurn as editor.

NY VFX shop Guava hired VFX supervisor/inferno artist/designer Aron Baxter. He moves from sister shop Nice Shoes.

Howling Music hired composer Amy Tung and Brian Kaplan as dir. of marketing.

Klasky Csupo Studios hired Jill Heinrich as director of post-production.

Detroit-based post company Milagro Post hired Jon Merrifield as the facility's new lead designer and eQ artist.

Bicoastal Post Logic Studios welcomed Steve Hendricks as president/CEO.

New York strategic branding and design, visual communications studio PURE added Bill Denahy, Araminta Atherton, Dustin Lindblad and Stephanie Naccari to its creative team.

Bicoastal Stun Creative added CD/director Chris Mckenna to its New York City office.

Hollywood's Troika Design Group promoted lead designers Gil Haslam and Reid Thompson to creative directors/designers.

Union Editorial, Santa Monica hired Nick Lofting, who comes from Chrome, Santa Monica.

AD AGENCIES

Arnold Worldwide, Canada appointed Ania Russocki as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Her appointment follows an exhaustive search for the ideal candidate. Russocki has over a decade of experience building brands in both Canada and the United States, and was most recently president at Gee Jeffrey & Partners in Toronto.

Arnold Worldwide, New York hired Celia Williams, former executive producer at LA music house Endless Noise, as head of production.

Euro RSCG, London welcomed creative veteran Gerry Moira as UK director of creativity. Prior to his recent hiatus from the industry Moira worked primarily at Publicis, and was chairman at the time of his departure.

Euro RSCG, New York promoted Jeff Kling to executive creative director.

Leo Burnett promoted Mark Tutssel from vice chairman/deputy chief creative officer of Leo USA to deputy chief creative officer of Leo Worldwide. Additionally, Leo USA hired Tor Myhren as executive vice president/executive creative director of the General Motors business, which is handled by the agency's chemistri unit.

Lowe and Partners Worldwide promoted Matthew Bull, CEO of its London office, to worldwide creative chief. Bull joined the agency 2003 from South African agency Bull Calvert Place. Bull replaces Adrian Holmes as worldwide CCO. Holmes retains his title as chairman. Additionally, Lowe named Garry Lace - most recently CEO of Grey, London - CEO of the London office.

HOOKUPS

Saint Louis-based coreaudiovisual hired Bob Samuel as managing director. Samuel will manage the company while based in New York and oversee all sales and other operations for coreaudiovisual. Samuel will also oversee the launch of new offices in Los Angeles and Toronto as coreaudiovisual expands from its current offices in New York and St. Louis.

New York's Curious Pictures has established a relationship with Paris prodco Grand Large where Curious will rep Grand Large's roster in the US, including director Jean-Pierre Jeunet who returns to commercials after directing Amelie and A Very Long Engagement.

Jeff Goodby, co-founder and co-chairman of Goodby, Silverstein & Parters, has been named as jury president for the re-launched Titanium Lions at the International Advertising Festival in Cannes.

After news of restructuring in November, newnewfilms executive producer Teri Walderman announced that the company is now running its production through Avion Films. The roster includes Canadian director Ron Baxter Smith, along with Rocky Morton, Marcus Nispel, Dario Piana, Clay Williams, Annabel Jankel, Jeff Lovinger, Robert Bryant, Michael Rowles and Stefan Wurnitzer, who are represented exclusively in Canada.

London-based directors Jon Hollis and Stuart Douglas kicked off the New Year by opening Nice Shirt Films. The pair, both ex of @radical.media, London will lead the company along with managing director Richard Martin. Hollis has worked as a flame artist at shops such as The Mill and Smoke & Mirrors before moving to directing, while Douglas's background includes a career as a photographer.

Directors Jonas Akerlund and Johan Renck, who work independently as directors but collaboratively as Renck Akerlund Films (RAF), have parted ways with HSI/Exposure Films after six years.

Denver, Colorado-headquartered stock footage management and licensing company Thought Equity opened a Burbank, California office. Vice president of sales Paul Weiser will head the office.

LA production company Tight formed a relationship with London's Outsider that will see Tight represent the shop's roster in Amercia under the banner Outsider USA. Talent that will be available through the deal include James Rouse, Steve Hudson and David Lodge, as well as affiliated companies The Viral Factory and web design outfit Unit 9.