BWR Loses Talent Leaders to Start Own Company Called Imprint PR
Both Nicole Perna and Melissa, formerly of Baker Winokur Ryder (BWR) left their jobs in the talent section to start a PR firm – Imprint PR. Several clients have also left BWR in this move including Anna Faris, Mila Kunis, Gal Gadot, and Chloe Grace Moretz. Other publicists are also leaving the firm to join Imprint. BWR was founded over 33 years ago by Paul Baker, Larry Winokur, and Nanci Ryder. Though Ryder left after a diagnosis of ALS, the remaining two partners (Baker and Winokur) are expected to also retire before long. However, it appears those departing might have wanted a new adventure in PR.
Shift Communications’ San Francisco Office Gets New Leader in David Hargreaves
With 120+ employees in four offices – Boston, New York, Austin, and San Francisco – Shift is bringing in new leadership for their San Francisco office with David Hargreaves in charge and a new VP in Nathan Beers. Shift is a wholly-owned subsidiary of National Public Relations, which in turn, is under the Res Publica Consulting Group umbrella. Hargreaves has been the MD at Next 15’s SF office, and Beers joins Shift after a stint at Indeed.com as a vice president.
Madica Productions Working with T Group for Benefit of Sunshine Sachs’ Clients
T Group Productions (producer of Storage Hunters and Ozzy & Jack’s World Detour of History) and Madica Productions (part of Sunshine Sachs) are co producing, creating, and developing programming for clients at Sunshine Sachs. Madica is based in Los Angeles. Executive producing will be handled by T Group’s president Jenny Daly, Madica’s MD Jeff Tahler, and Shawn Sachs from Sunshine Sachs.
Madica has been operating for the last three-plus years, and during that time their work has included a documentary Abortion: Stories Women Tell for HBO, a feature film working with LeBron James’ SpringHill Entertainment and New Line Cinema, and Mamarazzi for People/Entertainment Weekly Network.
Burson-Marsteller Working to Win More Defense and Security Work
Burson-Marsteller (BM) has upped their game by bringing in a former NATO commander and British citizen, Peter Hudson (Vice Admiral) on a part time basis – two days each month for at least six months initially. But the term has been lengthened until some time in 2018. His first charge is to establish a new defense section for BM. Hudson was in charge of the maritime headquarters for NATO from 2013-2015. He also served and the EU forces in the Indian Ocean’s commander. He continues to work as a consultant at NATO.
Porter Novelli Adds SVPs to DC and Seattle Offices
Porter Novelli is amping up their consumer tech and public affairs teams as they bring in two senior VPs – one in DC and one in Seattle. In DC, leading the public affairs and corporate communications team, Tara Greco joined the firm beginning May 1. She previously served as the National Basketball Players’ Association director of communications, Walmart’s director of sustainability comms, as well as leadership roles at Deloitte and APCO Worldwide.
In Seattle, late in March, Eric Villines became the person in charge with the T-Mobile account and provides tech and agency expertise as a leader. His work history includes filling jobs as VP and global comms leader for Meitu (smartphone manufacturer), SVP of consumer tech division at MWWPR, and leader of brand marketing for Burson-Marsteller’s Southwest region.