The Big Jobs
Amazon - Freevee
Head of Creative
Jun ’21 - Present
What I am responsible for:
Currently leading all creative output of the Marketing organization. After completely reinventing the service from the ground up in 2022 (including new name, new identity and subsequent launch campaign) I was asked to expand my scope to include creative oversight of all Originals launch marketing efforts. To deliver the best-in-class work we demand from ourselves, our leadership team is focused on fundamentals. We are reevaluating how the team is structured, how to deploy talent appropriately, and whether each process and mechanism is appropriate to ensure we are running efficiently.
Most meaninful things I’m learning:
How to navigate complexity and tremendous headwinds and still be successful. How to allocate extremely limited resources by leveraging individuals’ strengths and align them to a common cause. How to keep a team inspired and motivated in the face of great ambiguity.
Why I’d consider other opportunities:
Let’s discuss in person?
Amazon - Prime Video
Group Creative Director, Global Brand
Oct ’17 - Jun ’21
What I was responsible for:
I was the Group Creative Director for the Global Brand Team at Prime Video. My team was responsible for all service-level initiatives and marketing campaigns. Additionally, I owned defining and giving order to the complex brand ecosystem and offerings. My team was focused on articulating a defendable brand value proposition that worked on a global level, and then brought it to life with dynamic creative and a robust expression system and identity.
What I learned:
While I continued to sharpen my skills developing multi-channel Brand marketing creative assets, what I’m most grateful for was what I learned regarding foundational brand building. I was a driving force in challenging many strategic assumptions that were holding our business back.
Why I left:
I was offered the opportunity to oversee a reimagining of Amazon’s lesser known ad-supported streaming service, IMDb TV. Total creative control over the articulation of what was essentially a new streaming service? Yes please!
Comedy Central
What I was responsible for:
Led the internal Brand Creative team in the creation of award-winning 360° launch campaigns for new and returning series. Oversaw all campaigns from concept to completion, including pitch development, photo shoot and execution of final creative. Additionally, my team was responsible for defining and maintaining core brand identity, as well as how it showed up across all customer touchpoints.
What I learned:
How to make killer marketing campaigns that break through and deliver the right message to the right audience in the most entertaining way possible. Also, how to have fun while doing the work, and the impact that has on the output.
Why I left:
While nervous I’d ever find another role where there was such a perfect mix of great brand and great (incredibly talented) people, things were getting repetitious and I didn’t feel like I was learning new things at the rate I needed to be. That, and the clouds collecting over linear television were growing increasingly dark.
Creative Lead
Jan ’02 - Sept ’17
Other Previous Experience
Freelance
Creative Director / Designer
Jan ’98 - Jan ’01
Designed and art directed corporate identities, logos, websites, brochures, fonts and premiums for clients on a project-by-project basis. Also worked on several projects that redefined what a web “experience” could be, most notably a full-screen, choose-your-own-adventure-style web adventure that welcomed visitors to the site of supermodel, Eva Herzigova.
Various Design Studios
Art Director
Jan ’97 - Jan ’98
I enjoyed short stints with a number of small design studios, including Number 17, a reknowned creative studio founded by two former Tibor Kalman (M&Co.) protégés. I was given the opportunity to work on a number of projects for clients outside of entertainment, which provided new challenges and expanded my skills. One such project was designing all the printed collateral for the launch of The Mercer Hotel in NYC. Finding sophisticated ways to delight the guets with clever but understated design winks was pure joy.
MTV Networks
Designed promotional materials, video and multimedia presentations, & premiums. Directed photo shoots; oversaw projects from inception to completion; hired and worked with illustrators, photographers, and production staff.
Art Director
May ’93 - Dec ’96