Arrivals & Departures

Strategy Creative Auckland’s studio will have a new managing partner from today with Melanie Spencer stepping into the role. She finishes her current position as general manager at commercial interior design group Spaceworks, to join Strategy Auckland creative partner and studio founder, Gideon Keith.

Facebook continues to grow its Sydney-based Creative Shop with the announcement of four senior hires to support the ANZ business.

Auckland-based post production company Toybox has appointed Sam McCauley as executive producer. McCauley is already executive producer of Toybox’s sister company, full-service production company Flying Start Pictures. This appointment will see him fulfilling the role across both companies.

Dentsu Aegis Network has promoted strategy director Jacquie Bennett to the newly created role of group head of strategy. Her original strategy director role in the strategic team will now be taken up Ryan Jordan, who joined DAN in August.

Architectural practice Warren & Mahoney has snared Colenso BBDO/Proximity general manager Amy Phillips to fill the new role of group brand & communications officer in Auckland.

Location technology company Blis has established a permanent presence in NZ, appointing Don Saw as its Auckland-based technical sales manager. (Scroll up to read about the Blis release of its DSP on both sides of the Tasman.)

Auckland ad-music production house Smoke Music has welcomed new talent to their ranks, including Joe Faris (the man behind Ezra Vine’s hit tune and TV1 hero sting Celeste), Josh Edmonds (from Nelson alt-pop group Little Oceans), Parris Goebel producer Rory Noble, Berlin-based Simon Hughes and whizkid Will Henderson (who has been known to moonlight on keyboards for the likes of Janine and the Mixtape, Thomston and Theia).

Film Construction NZ has engaged a new director – he’s Sydney-based Daniel Pront, formerly a freelance director working globally with a variety of companies, agencies and clients direct.

Yahoo Platforms has appointed a new account manager to their Auckland team. Odis Ponce joins from Yahoo’s New York office, where she worked across programmatic advertising in an optimisation strategist role. 

New York-based Kiwis Beth O’Brien and Thomas Darlow are returning to New Zealand to take creative group head roles at Colenso BBDO.