Congrats are in order for Ashley Ford. EightVFX has bolstered its management team with the appointment of Ford as Executive Producer. In her new role, she will oversee bidding and incoming productions as well as new and existing relationships with directors and production companies.
With her deep expertise in business development and sales, she will also helm bringing in new talent and productions companies the studio reveres and is keen to collaborate with across commercial, feature film, music video, and AR projects.
With a diverse and rich background in both the production and post-production industries, Ford joins the award-winning Santa Monica-based VFX, design & animation studio following a successful run of repping an array of acclaimed talent and heading her own company, Friends of Ford, where her roster included Stept Studios, Good Company, Flavor, London Alley, and Nylon Studios to name a few.
Renown for its visual effects and finishing work on campaigns for brands like Apple, Audi, and Nike, as well as entertainment properties like Netflix’s Stranger Things, Fox’s The Orville, and the Academy Award nominated film I, Tonya, EightVFX’s tapping of Ford supports its elevation across advertising and entertainment media.
Commenting on Ford’s hire, EightVFX Founder and Managing Director Baptiste Andrieux says, “In these delicate times, having Ashley join on to support in leading the team at EightVFX is inspiring. Ashley’s depth of knowledge, exceptional rolodex of relationships, and creative instincts are a few of the many reasons why she’s the perfect person to help lead and shape the next chapter of the company.”
“My co-founder Jean-Marc Demmer and I feel fortunate to be joining forces with her as we look at the future and accelerate into the next phase together. Ashley is well-known and respected by so many creatives in the business, and she’s such an excellent champion of each and every VFX artist in our house which will serve to grow and expand our footprint even further in our industry space.”
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“I’m so elated to be joining the EightVFX family. Every single person at this company is so incredibly smart and talented. What’s especially inspiring is how much the people here genuinely love what they do and how it shows through in their work,” shares Ford. “After meeting Baptiste & Jean-Marc, I knew the amazing opportunity afforded to me in getting to work with the two of them and their extraordinary VFX storytelling talent.”
Mindful of the impact COVID-19 has had on the production world, Ford explains, “We are in a very unique time in our industry. I find myself thinking over and over how to approach this whole situation with clients, colleagues, bosses and our families.
Every single level of society and business is affected dramatically and we must be sensitive. As a vendor, we can’t truly project what’s to come workwise. How does one plan for that? I believe this is a time for brands of companies to create everlasting moments and be remembered forever. As a creative industry, we have the ability to help shape businesses moving forward through critical and forward thinking.
This only pushes our industry by challenging ourselves to be more creative and fuel the passion. This quarantine could also give work life balance a whole new level of understanding once this is all over.”
Over her tenure in the production industry, Ford has collaborated with a plethora of renowned talent and brands on notable projects such as Muse Agency’s Wells Fargo campaign by Nylon Studios’ Warren Fischer and TBWA\Chiat\Day’s Gatorade campaign by London Alley’s Hannah Lux Davis. Other client business wins have included collabs for Stept Studios and Reddit, Hecho Studios as well as Nylon Studios for LG, and an AR project for AT&T by TBWA\Chiat\Day.
This year alone, Ford has already worked with talent & productions including TBWA\Chiat\Day NY’s Nissan “Refuse to Compromise” spots directed by Minted Content’s David Leitch and Dan Gifford, Leo Burnett Detroit’s Cadillac “Make Your Way” campaign also directed by Leitch, Liquid Advertising’s Fuser promo for Harmonix directed by Pulse Films’ Ben Mor, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners’ Panera Bread “Unlimited Coffee” ads by MJZ’s Craig Gillespie.
Other projects she has collaborated on included EightVFX’s productions for Taco Bell, Harman Khardon, and Verizon’s 5G AR Dome Experience at this year’s Super Bowl.
Reel 360 wishes Ashley the best of luck in hew new role.
SOURCE: CWPR
