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Creative editor Nikki Vapensky recently joined post house Hootenanny after 18 years with Whitehouse Post, saying she was “ready to move into a different style of company,” adding, “and I’ve always admired Liz Tate and the fact that this is a woman-owned company.”

Vapensky’s body of work includes commercials for McDonald’s, Allstate, Walmart, Disney, and Jello’s “Delightfully Honest” campaign for Leo Burnett.

Chicago agencies and post houses overwhelmed last week’s International Television Awards, scoring 10 out of 12 top awards for excellence in TV commercials. The awards were held Wednesday, April 20, at the AMC River North theatres before a full house.

The Whitehouse post scored four awards and Leo Burnett earned three.

Optimus’ hiring of editor Caleb Hepler, who starts the latest chapter of his career on Monday, Aug. 10, brings the number of Optimus editors to 10.

WHITEHOUSE POST’S Kristin Branstetter has returned to Chicago as executive producer, as of Dec. 15, replacing Dan Bryant who left earlier this year after being with the post house for three years.

Whitehouse Post’s new editor, David Cea, will occupy a unique situation when he arrives here Oct. 1 to live and work in Chicago.   He will stand alone as the first New York editor to put down roots here, from among the estimated 70 editors employed at Chicago AICE post companies.

Out of the 59 entries from among some of the top post companies in the 12^th annual International AICE Show, three editors from two post companies were selected as AICE finalists: Red Car’s Kevin O’Rourke, for Madison Museum of Contemporary Art spot and Utopic’s Ryan Gilbert and Joe Minich for NBC5’s “City,” both 60s.

After 14-years in Los Angeles as an executive producer of commercials, Dan Bryant is thrilled to be working Chicago again, as the Whitehouse Chicago’s new executive producer.

Joining The Whitehouse was a matter of perfect timing on both sides.  A month ago, Bryant and his wife were seriously considering returning to the Midwest after the post house he’d worked for had closed.  

Chicago’s media and entertainment industry has acquired an international flavor with the official opening this week of the Chicago office of Carbon VFX, the London-headquartered design and effects division of Whitehouse Post.

The 7th annual Ad Community Shorts Night at the Midwest Independent Film Festival will screen Tuesday, Nov. 15 instead of its regular First Tuesday Nov. 1 date, deemed as being too close to Nov. 8 election night. They are:

“Hell,” John Malkovich reads Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave” while illustrations depicting humans’ worst atrocities animate edited, graphics by Ryan Gilbert and sound design by Brian Leitner.

The latest film title work of design-driven production company Sarofsky Corp. can be seen in the staccato 60-second main titles of the new family crime TV series, “Animal Kingdom,” that premiered on TNT June 14.

In March, The Mill effects and animation studio will celebrate its third anniversary in Chicago by moving to its magnificent new studio space in the landmark building at 1KFulton (1000 W.

There were two significant hires this week for recently-opened post and production studio Conspiracy. 

LEO BURNETT trumped the Chicago International Film Festival TV awards by scoring 18 – or almost half — of the 40 television commercial awards presented last Wednesday at a ceremony at the Hyatt Magnificent Mile Hotel.

Satirical, comedic “The Onion” and its commercial affiliate, “Onion Labs” will receive the first Commitment to Excellence in New Media Award from the Chicago International Film Festival’s TV Awards at the April 22 presentation ceremony.

DDB’S BIG COUP to start the year was importing of Brit Tony Malcolm to fill the top creative spot on its US McDonald’s business. He comes from nearly a decade with Leo Burnett, London, which has McDonald’s business for the UK.

His first day was Monday, Jan. 7.

Cap Gun Collective is going all out for multiplatform original content, based on its previous success with a webseries playing on The Onion’s site and director Alex Fendrich  winning the 2012 Comedy Central Competition.

The Oct. 10-24 Chicago International Film Festival pays homage to Chicagoans this year, honoring producer/director George Tillman, Jr. with a Black Perspectives Tribute, and inviting Jennifer Hudson, star of Tillman’s new movie, to join the festivities Friday, Oct. 11.

Sonixphere created an original orchestral score highlighting the humor in La Quinta hotel chain’s new two-spot campaign, “Win@Business,” from DDB Chicago, giving the LaQuinta mnemonic a symphonic makeover.

The character-driven spots feature company guys who aim to win at business by rehearsing their plan of attack the night before in their La Quinta rooms.

Under the supervision of DDB SVP/GCDs Barry Burdiak and John Hayes and CDs Tim Green and Bart Culberson, the two 30s were directed by Brian Billow of New York-based O Positive, LLC, and edited by The Whitehouse’s Dave Cea.

Optimus’ traditional August Block Party this year could be the biggest of all in the previous 20 years, since it marks the company’s last such party in its present location.

For the first time, STORY production/post will have an in-house sales director, working in its new offices when commercial pro, Melissa Thornley, starts Nov. 1 as Midwest head of new business development.

Longtime Beast editor Morgan Bradley is all packed up and ready for the next chapter in her career. On Saturday, she boards a plane for her new job at Beast Editorial in San Francisco. 

NBC’S CHICAGO-SET “SHAMELESS” will have two units filming around the city for a full five days starting next Monday, Aug. 25, for the sixth season of the comedy series about the twisted Gallagher family, headed by single father Frank (William C. Macy). 

John McGrath of Rethink Studios, who’s always been giant steps ahead of the digital curve, has seen the future and it’s Ultra High Definition, aka 4K technology.

“It’s coming and it’s coming fast,” he predicts.

BOB BLISS CREATIVE’S “CHICAGO’S MAGICAL PIANO” is a 4-minute YouTube holiday delight – a Christmas-decorated piano at Union Station that magically bursts into just the right song to interact with the passerby, from a little girl playing “Chops Sticks” to Santa himself, who cautions the piano to soften its volume while he strides by, a bag o

Agency producer Peter Hullinger started his new postproduction career Wednesday, Nov. 13 as executive producer of Beast editorial, Method visual effects and Company 3 color, the Chicago branch of LA-based Deluxe Entertainment.  He had been a senior producer at Y&R for the past two-and-a-half years.

Hullinger leads a staff of 25, including four editors and two producers for Beast. 

Beast, Company 3 and Method are losing their managing director Melissa Thornley who resigned Aug. 20 from corporate owner, LA-based DeLuxe Entertainment, after four growth years with the company. She will remain at the company until a replacement is installed and then plans to take some time off.

TWO NEW SHOWS FOR 20 WEST PRODUCTIONS. According to Scot Thor, SVP/development and production, the Intersport division is going into production into its first MTV program – a docusoap called “South of Heaven.” It follows the beautiful 20something girls who work at the famous “Redneck Restaurant and Bar” (a fan gave it 5 stars: 3 stars for the food and an extra 2 stars for the women) in Lewisville, Texas, near Ft. Worth. 

Red Car Chicago is revving up with a new philosophy, fresh new talent and a determination to revive and elevate the Red Car brand to rank among the top three editorial boutiques in Chicago, says managing director Carrie Holecek.

Towards that end, Red Car hired editors Keith Kristinat from Utopic and Texas native David Rosenblatt, a freelance long-form and feature editor, along with three young men in their first jobs as assistant editors.

EFFECTS MAKEUP SPECIALIST, Westmont-based J.