LOS ANGELES — Creative strategic design agency eyeball
has hired industry vet Nikki Bentley as executive producer. The appointment comes as eyeball continues to expand its reach in both the domestic U.S. and international markets. Based out of London, Bentley will leverage her global contacts to expand eyeball’s branding services into international territories where brands are looking to secure strategic footholds in their markets.
"I've known Nikki and the scope of her relationships for a long time,” says David Edelstein, eyeball managing director, broadcast. “It's very exciting to have the opportunity to partner with Nikki in growing the eyeball brand in the UK and Europe, as well as worldwide.”
Managing partner Ben Spivak echoed Edelstein’s sentiments, “Nikki is a great new hire. Aside from her rich history of business successes that should help David grow our broadcast revenues, I’m especially impressed with her measured and thoughtful approach to client services. We both share the driving ethos that being a reasonable person is key.”
Bentley comes to eyeball after serving as business director at UK creative agency BDA since 2005. Working with broadcasters worldwide to provide channel branding and promotion campaigns, she saw a shift in TV marketing at BDA — from producing thousands of monthly promos across linear schedules to multi-platform audience-targeted campaigns.
Bentley’s interest in television goes back to her native South Africa where she grew up on a remote farm and spent most of her childhood TV-free. She was in her early teens when the family finally got a TV, and from that day, she was hooked. Bentley started her career working for a South African production company, focusing on television and cinema commercials. She then joined a group of friends who had started their own creative agency, Rapid Blue, while working for the then-relatively-unknown satellite platform Multichoice. There, Bentley produced everything from channel rebrands to promo campaigns and, eventually, live programming and long-form content. Bentley moved to the UK where she spent the next six years working in the sports marketing and advertising industry for brands around major sporting events, including the Premier League Football.
Bentley’s work for both Canal+ in France and BDA have garnered numerous PromaxBDA awards. L’Arbitre, a short that she produced for ESPN, was voted best film in 2012 by the United Nations Department of Public Information while also garnering the World Gold for Best Sports & Recreation Television Documentary/Information Programme at the New York Festivals.