PRODUCTION COMPANIES //

Toronto-based Crush and Lollipop hired Ben Valiquette, formerly of Circle Productions, as manager, sales and marketing.

Digital Kitchen hired Gabriel Marquez as head of production in its New York office.

Furlined, Santa Monica signed commercial director and documentary filmmaker Benito Montorio to its roster for US spot rep. He is repped by Blink Productions in the UK.

Director Matt Smukler rejoined the roster at Los Angeles-based HELLO! after spending a year at start-up prodco Cartel.

HSI, London has signed director Chino Moya.

Moon Media, New York owner/EP Tom Mooney launched a digital company called ADDigital.

Nexus Interactive Arts, a new division of London-based Nexus Productions, signed director Quayola for worldwide rep.

Paranoid US signed directing duo Radical Friend, aka Kirby McClure and Julia Grigorian.

Partners, Toronto signed director Duane Crichton for Canadian representation.

Passion Pictures, London/New York/Paris signed Toronto-based animation/design studio Alchemy for rep in the European and US markets. Alchemy’s directors are Anthony Burns and Jamie Webster.

BBDO, New York chairman, chief creative officer Bill Bruce left the agency to join RSA Films as a full-time director.

Runner Runner, Minneapolis hired former Partizan head of production Ian Bearce as executive producer. He will also head up the company’s affiliates: Fischer Edit/FX and Modern Music.

London production company th2ng signed directors Nick Miekle and Anthony Chen.

POST • AUDIO • ANIMATION //

Arsenal VFX, Santa Monica hired senior VFX artist Terry Silberman and CG lead Eli Guerron.

New York creative studio Bionic hired creative director Victor Newman, formerly a CD and co-founder of Freestyle Collective.

Blacklist, New York has signed directorial collective Polynoid (Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, Tom Weber, Csaba Letay and Fabian ‘Pit’ Pross).

Charlieuniformtango VFX artist Dave Laird moved from Dallas to Austin where he will lead VFX and online editing as senior VFX artist.

Click 3X, New York hired creative director Ders Hallgren to lead its broadcast design division, Click 3X Entertainment.

Hollywood-based motion design studio Colourmovie signed ACME Filmworks for spot rep.

Venice, CA-based digital production studio Digital Domain hired Stephen Rosenbaum as visual effects supervisor.

Composers/producers Phil Mossman and Will Bates left Amber Music to start Fall On Your Sword, a Brooklyn-based music house named after their band. Lucy Alper became executive producer.

New York editorial shop jumP opened an office in Los Angeles headed up by EP Josianne Cote. Bob Mori, David Trachtenberg, Jack Douglas and Nick Lofting signed with jumP LA’s roster.

Nice Shoes, New York promoted assistants Andrew Granelli, Vin Roma and Bryan Rosenblum to full VFX artists.

New York/London-based Peepshow Post Productions added Dean Gonzalez, formerly of Final Cut, to its editorial roster.

LA-based design and post studio Precision hired executive producer Marie Soto.

Sonic Union, New York formed an alliance with voice casting director Maria Pappalardo, who opened an independent voice casting service after 15 years as BBDO, New York’s head of voiceover casting.

Bicoastal/London-based Superfad promoted Chris Volckmann to executive producer of the Seattle office.

Transistor Studios, New York hired former 1st Avenue Machine head of production Jesse Kurnit as senior producer.

Hollywood-based Troika Design Group hired Whit Friese as CD.

New York-based wild(child) promoted executive producer Alexandra Leal to managing partner.

AGENCY //

Los Angeles-based 72andSunny hired creative director Barton Corley, who co-created Apple’s Mac vs. PC campaign while at TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Tali Krakowsky, former director of experience design at Imaginary Forces and WET Design, launched Apologue, a new company that will create branded experiences by merging storytelling and new media with physical environments.

ClickFire Media, New York hired Nick Agderian as interactive creative director, and Nate Poekert to handle production, account management and digital strategy.

Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Boulder/Miami hired interactive associate creative directors Caprice Yu and Tim Geoghegan, formerly of BBH, New York. CP+B creative director Chris Wiggins left the agency and the ad industry “to try something totally new”.