The short: I am a marketing project manager with a fifteen year history in promotional advertising, communications, and outreach, working in the fast-paced world of filmed theatrical entertainment for motion picture studio clients including 20th Century Fox, Paramount PIctures and Universal Home Entertainment on multi-million dollar national and local campaigns.
A fascination with the inner workings of business, an obsession with customer experience and a passion for international studies led me in 2010 to return to school at the Thunderbird School of Global Management. There I received an MBA in early 2011 with a specialization in market research, a powerful tool I will use to further my basic philosophy about marketing - that “marketing” becomes “good news” when it successfully reaches the right consumer.
The long: I am a marketing specialist and project manager with a long history in promotional advertising and communications. The work I’ve done in that arena led me long ago to a simple philosophy which is the cornerstone of my marketing practice; information about a product becomes a piece of good news when it successfully reaches the right consumer.
For years I worked in the fast-paced world of entertainment for motion picture studio clients including 20th Century Fox, Paramount PIctures and Universal Home Entertainment. This was an exciting time for me, as I managed all my clients local Los Angeles and Orange County promotional media and events, as well as many clients national promotions, publicity and communications. I oversaw everything from soup to nuts - if it’s promotions-related, chances are, I’ve done it! This work solidified my understanding about great marketing - working on many “specialty” films with specific audiences (often “art house” or foreign titles) required me to really dig in order to find the people who would be interested in my clients’ products.
But before I worked in that world, I got my real start in film in Washington State, working with The Whatcom Film Association to found one of the only profitable independent cinemas in the area, The Pickford. Today, that theater is still going strong and about to open a brand-new two screen space; starting The Pickford easily makes my “top five things I’m most proud of” list. It was also the first time I connected the dots between giving people something they want and making money - the theater would not be standing today if the public didn’t want what we offered.
After moving to Seattle in 1999, I co-founded a video production company, Stopworks, and worked with clients like the Seattle International Film Festival, the YMCA, and the bodyBODY Project on a variety of outreach as well as production projects. In 2004, I relocated to Los Angeles, working for Allied Advertising, Public Relations (now Allied Public Media) where I was fortunate to work with numerous studio clients, planning and executing national campaigns, local campaigns and securing millions of dollars in added-value promotional advertising. And in 2009, I was invited to join the world-class team that produces the Abu Dhabi Film Festival in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, giving me my first delicious taste of work outside the United States.
A fascination with the inner workings of business, an obsession with customer experience and a deep interest in how commerce influences international relations led led me back to school in 2010. I attended the Thunderbird School of Global Management, where I wanted to both cement my basic understanding of business as well as explore international business, and received an MBA in early 2011 with a specialization in market research. While at school I came to fully understand the power of consumer insight as a marketing tool. Adding research to my extensive promotional, advertising and project management experience, I am now able to apply my basic philosophy about marketing - that understanding the consumer is at the heart of everything - to even greater advantage for any business I partner with.