As Optimus’ long-time partner/senior colorist Craig Leffel moves over to director of production at ONE at Optimus, the post house’s production division, and Tyler Roth has joined Optimus as colorist after more than four years at Filmworkers Club.
Leffel will be working closely with ONE’s executive producer, Kipp Christiansen, who joined the company in June, 2010 and has been largely overseeing spot production in L.A., through Optimus’ Santa Monica office.
This top-level changes follows the recent departure of John Noble, who had been executive/producer managing director since 2009.
Leffel, a 20-year Optimus veteran, has been an Optimus partner since 1998. In switching to an active production role, Leffel says it was “a tremendous opportunity” for him to utilize his major agency and advertisers experience, and to install his artistic, technical and workflow knowledge to his new position.
New colorist Tyler Roth, says Christiansen, “is rising to the top so quickly, with an amazing reputation as a colorist. Craig’s former clients are excited about working with him. He has somewhat different approaches that are securely anchored in technology.”
Roth, who earned double major in film and animation technology from Northwestern University, worked on commercials for Walgreens, McDonalds, Allstate and Wrigley’s Orbit gum and recently collaborated on two music videos and a documentary with Chicago-based artist R. Kelly.
ONE at Optimus exclusively represents directors Ryan Bosworth, Michael Chaves, Jim Matlosz, Ale Beh and Otto Arsenault from L.A., Sunny Zhao, Richmond, Virginia, Barry Kimm, Minneapolis and James Fleischel of Chicago.
“We’re also bringing up in-house talent to direct when a project suits their talents,” says Christiansen.
Kimm’s latest ONE job was directing a package of Allstate broadcast and web spots on Optimus’ in-house stage in Chicago.
Christiansen is one of five executive producers at Optimus and One at Optimus in Chicago and Santa Monica. Sarah Slevin is the ONE producer in Chicago.
