CHICAGO — The Colonie (www.TheColonie.com) began 2018 with multiple hires and a senior level promotion, growing its motion design and editorial departments, and broadening the scope of its client services with the addition of an associate producer. The company's expansion has been ongoing, but the impetus for the cluster of new signings was last year's spike in broadcast and digital media projects.
"2017 was a year of growth for The Colonie,” says Mary Caddy, executive producer/partner. "There's been an increase in commercial and social media projects, as well as integrated broadcast and online campaigns that tap a wider range of our services. The mix of work has been exciting and kept everyone very bus. The timing was right for bringing new talent on onboard."
Jennifer Moody (above, right), who held the position of senior motion designer at The Colonie for the past five years, was promoted to creative director. With the recent hiring of motion designer, Jeff Borowiak (above, left), who works alongside her, the collaborative team positions the company to take on more complex motion design jobs. The Colonie's integrated post production environment enables Moody and Borowiak to work with its editorial and visual effects team on a wider range of projects and platforms, all under one roof.
Before joining the company, Moody was a senior designer at Foundation for seven years. She has created and produced design elements for commercials for brands, such as Target, Levi’s and State Farm, and worked on an eclectic mix of projects that included music videos, corporate media, movie trailers, intros and title sequences.
Borowiak recently made the move to The Colonie, getting in on the ground floor just as the company poised for bolstering its motion design capabilities with Moody's promotion. The young artist received his BA in cinema art and science from Columbia College after earning an associate's degree in digital media and design. While still a student, he took first place at the 2016 SeriesFest 48 Hour Interactive Film Festival for a title sequence he designed and animated for the interactive Web series, The Reunion.
In the creative editorial department, the recent surge in work gave The Colonie an opportunity to hire Nathan Rodgers (above, right). Since coming onboard, he has cut numerous spots, music videos for Towkio, among others artists, and promotional pieces for brands such as Jordan, Mike’s Harder Lemonade, and Warner Chappell Music, to name a few.
Hayley Stuber (above, left) was also recently signed by The Colonie as the company's associate producer. She had previously interned at The Colonie, so she had the skill set needed to be a point person.
The Colonie is currently in the process of finalizing the signing of additional staffers, as it continues to expand and broaden its full-service, integrated editorial and post services to meet the growing demand for content accross multiple platform.