PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Simon Cole and Adam Cameron split up after 20 years working together as Joe Public. Cameron signed with Biscuit Films, while Cole will stay with London's HSI Productions.

London's Gorgeous Enterprises signed three new directors as part of a deal with Park Pictures in the US. Lance Acord, Joachim Back and Joaquin Baca-Asay are repped by Gorgeous in the UK and most of Europe.

London-based HANraHAN will rep digital artists and directors Shilo in the UK.

Bicoastal HSI Productions signed freelance creative Ryan Ebner for spots and videos.

LA's Little Minx hired Danielle Peretz as EP.

London's Nice Shirt Films hired Nick Hussey, formerly of Independent Films, as EP and signed director Jesper Ericstam for UK rep.

Toronto prodco OPC hired James Bland as EP.

London's Partizan signed director Lian Hong for worldwide representation. Meanwhile, Partizan Lab signed Eric Lerner.

Pink Films in London hired Jeremy Barnes, formerly of HLA, as MD and added Alex Hardcastle and Dominic Cyriax to its roster.

Santa Monica's Reactor Films signed directing duo Rooster, Craig Champion and Jeff Tanner.

LA's RSA Films signed directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo for exclusive rep.

New York's Saville Productions signed director John Landis (The Blues Brothers and Michael Jackson's "Thriller") for commercials in the US, as well as director Miles Goodall for US spot representation.

Toronto's Spy Films added Duplex, Maxime Giroux and Fluorescent Hill to its roster.

Über Content in LA signed Little Children director Todd Field and Sean Mullens.

POST / AUDIO / ANIMATION
Tarzana, CA-based motion graphics studio AvatarLabs named Paul Berry III as senior designer.

New York's Creative Bubble hired sound designer/composer Juan Sosa, who hopes to reach out to Hispanic advertising markets.

Santa Monica post house Cutters added editor Joel Marcus, previously of Cake, to its roster.

New York's Expansion Team hired EP April Jaffe, previously of Marshall Grupp Sound Design and Music at Sound Lounge.

Editor Gary Knight will now work in Final Cut's LA office after five years at the company's New York branch. He recently worked on films for GE's Imagination Theater.

Toronto-based audio/post house Pirate signed musician and engineer Vanya Drakul to its directors' roster.

London post-house The Quarry added editor Mark Edinoff, previously of Peepshow, to its roster.

Bicoastal post house R!OT hired award-winning colorist Bob Curreri. He won the 2006 MVPA Award for Best Color Correction for "Helena" by My Chemical Romance.

Hollywood-based post house SonicPool promoted Grace Anthony to the role of production supervisor for the company's Pool Cues music division.

Stardust's LA studio appointed former freelancer Trevor Shepard as art director.

LA-based Visual Music signed Battlestar Galactica music composer Bear McCready.

LA's Z Animation signed British animation/live action director Miles Flanagan, formerly of Oil Factory, Duck Soup Studios, and Acme Filmworks.

AGENCIES
Arnold Worldwide's Ron Lawner retired from the agency network, where he was vice chairman and global chief creative officer.

DDB Auckland hired Toby Talbot, formerly of Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand, as creative director.

Miami-based agency la comunidad hired Matt Orser, formerly of Carmichael Lynch, Minneapolis, and Alvaro Ramos Solanes, formerly of Leo Burnett in Lima, Peru, as art directors.

Chicago-based agency Cramer-Krasselt hired Ken Erke as VP/group creative director.

JWT London ECD Nick Bell resigned his position following a company reshuffle.

Seattle-based Publicis West hired Jackie Djanikian as director of broadcast business affairs, Jeff Limon as art director and Gerard Seifert as a senior copywriter.

Taxi, New York hired designer Stewart Devlin as design creative director, and art director Scott Bassen as associate creative director.

Toy NY hired creatives Jake Benjamin and Mark Voehringer, formerly of Saatchi & Saatchi New York.

Tom Blessington returned to Wieden + Kennedy, Portland as managing director after four years at TBWA\Chiat\Day in Playa Del Rey, CA, where he held the same position. Jelly Helm and Steve Luker were promoted to CDs.

San Diego-based vitrorobertson named Matt Dimmer as art director/senior designer.

Atlanta's WestWayne hired Mary Ann Frerman to the new position of VP/creative department manager.

Michael Patti, Y&R's vice chairman and worldwide creative director, left the agency. Current reports say the company is not planning on replacing him.

HOOKUPS> MERGERS, PARTNERSHIPS AND WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE INDUSTRY
The Art Directors Club announced its chairs and jurors for its 86th Annual Awards competition in advertising, interactive media and graphic design. ADC named Tony Granger, CCO of Saatchi & Saatchi, New York as advertising chair and Rei Inamoto, global creative director at AKQA, as interactive chair.

Organizers of this year's Cannes International Advertising Festival named 30-year ad industry veteran Bob Scarpelli, chairman and CCO of DDB Worldwide, as chair of the Lions' film and press juries. The festival also announced a student delegate program to encourage full-time advertising students to attend. A special registration fee will allow students to attend most of the festival activities during the week. Professors accompanying groups of students will attend free of charge. The student delegate package will run separately to the already well established Roger Hatchuel Lions Academy.

Veteran spot and music video directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris were nominated for a Directors Guild of America award for their debut feature, Little Miss Sunshine, alongside Martin Scorsese, Stephen Frears, Bill Condon and Alejandro González Iñárritu. Nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials for this year's Directors Guild of America Awards have also been announced. Up for the honor this year are MJZ's Dante Ariola and Tom Kuntz, Hungry Man's Bryan Buckley and David Gray, and Joe Pytka of Pytka. The winners will be announced in LA on February 3.

Indie electronic act Junior Boys announced a music video contest in partnership with Domino Records USA. The Canadian house duo will give $1,000 to the person who comes up with the best video for any track from their album So This Is Goodbye. The deadline for entries is March 1 and the best work will be shown during Junior Boys' spring tour.

Veteran agency and production producer Tony Harding opened a new production company in New York. Harding launched T.H.E.M. (Tony Harding Entertainment Media) by announcing a roster of directors that includes Elisson Burgos (Fred), Zoe Green, Jim Tozzi, Lawrence Jacomelli, and Michael Uys. Harding remains managing partner and EP at Kandokid Films.