Mark Shockley
President, Producer
Mark is a driving force in cementing branded entertainment into the collective ‘media obsessed’ popular culture. Mark began his career with a self-directed, self-produced documentary which he parlayed into an associate producer’s position with VH1, New York. Mark quickly transitioned into shooting supplemental content for F/X Network, working on shows like The Shield and Son of the Beach. Mark then began a long standing relationship with Metro Goldwyn Mayer, producing content for franchises such as Rocky, Pink Panther and James Bond, and that relationship with MGM continues to this day. Mark has led the production of global-scale theatrical marketing campaigns for high-profile properties including Avatar, Bruno, X Men Origins Wolverine, The Ice Age Franchise and many more. Mark’s work on the Borat campaign helped launch the film with a record breaking $31k per-screen average on its opening weekend, while the work for Wolverine pushed its opening weekend past $87m and Avatar claims 2.5b world-wide.
In addition to work in theatrical marketing, Mark has also played a pivotal role in launching such triple-A video game titles as Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Electronic Arts’ Madden 2008 as well as working with a large roster of corporate and celebrity clients such as UNICEF, Nokia, Target, Russel Crowe, Ridley Scott, Jim Carrey, Bruce Willis, Steve Carrell and Cameron Diaz. Recently, Mark has been extending his reach into the world of unscripted television and leveraging this content across a range of media, from television to the internet. Shockley means to aggressively pursue this new direction with original content intended for both television and the Internet. Although Evolution is still a comparatively young company, its success and influence are undeniable, and its future is unquestionably bright and exciting.
Rick Atwood
Creative Director
Rick Atwood’s diverse background in strategy, storytelling, business, design and advertising allow him to create communication programs that truly resonate with their target audiences. Rick’s extensive client list includes technology pioneers like Intel, SGI and Motorola, consumer packaged goods brands like Clorox, Dreyer’s and Kraft, as well as industry leaders like Disney, Versace, Gordon Biersch and Ghiraradelli Square.
In addition to his work with Evolution, Rick continues to work and consult with a select group of clients through his firm Atwood Design Studio, including Napa County California, Westfield Group, Pandora.com, The George Lucas Educational Foundation, Foster’s/Beringer Blass, Palmaz Vineyards, Dominican University of California, Asempra Technologies and IDEO to name a few.
Rick was formerlly Senior Vice President, Director of Design, for Goldberg Moser O’Neill Advertising in San Francisco, a $450m/year, nationally recognized creative advertising leader (later merged with IPG’s Boston based Hill, Holliday, one of the top 20 advertising agencies in the U.S.), and was responsible for the agencies’ integrated marketing, branding, advertising and design offerings for clients such as Kia Motors, The Venetian Hotel & Casino, Cisco Systems, Sybase and Sempra Energy and many others. Rick’s work has been recognized by Communication Arts, Print, The Clios, The Effies, The American Marketing Awards and the Adweek Icon Award among others.
Laszlo Gaspar (Laz)
Business Development, Director of Media Strategy
Laszlo Gaspar has always been a top competitor and leads success by example, be it as a nuclear missiles “count supervisor” in Reagan’s dismantling of the Soviet Union, or as one of the first American professional soccer players to play in the German Bundes League. Laszlo plays to win and takes pride in leading his team to victory.
Laz brings 20 years of media and marketing expertise with him to Evolution. He has been visible in roles ranging from global vice president of media distribution for PIMS UK to lead business developer of multi-media and original branded content at Dogmatic. His background as regional head for media analytics giant Cision / Delahaye blends perfectly with his knowledge of the social & multi-media environment he mastered during his tenure at PR Newswire as western regional director.
In short Laz sees the marketing world through media eyes. The merging of his media marketing expertise with Evolution’s creative team is a powerful force. Insuring more originality in your original content, more sizzle to your sizzle reel and more lift to your launch. Engaging the best audience in the most compelling manner is what Laz does best.
Kevin Comer
Head of Production
Head of Production Kevin Fitzmaurice Comer is a veteran of commercial and music video production. Since Kevin relocated to Los Angeles from New York City in 2002, he has worked with some of the biggest commercial production houses such as RSA, @radical.media, Cucoloris, Cente Service, The Directors Bureau, line producing high caliber commercials, promos, and music videos for clients such as BMW, Lexus, Hyundai, Honda, GM/Daewoo, Soft Bank (with Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz), Shiseido, Jenny Craig (with Kirstie Alley), L’Oreal (with Eva Longoria), McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Disney (with Hillary Duff), Music videos for U2 and Green Day, as well as F/X promos for The Riches, The Shield, and Sons of Anarchy. Kevin has worked with Evolution LA as production manager for promos for Marley & Me, Brüno and I Love You Beth Cooper. In addition Kevin has produced and line produced several short films, including the award-winning short film Parallel Passage (nominated Best Short Film at Deauville Film Festival with jury headed by Roman Polanski), soon-to-be released comedy Tesla Popped my Cherry, and Sparks, a short film directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and written by Elmore Leonard, which screened at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Kevin graduated from the University of Cincinnati with honors in electrical engineering. As a project manager for NASA, Kevin designed, constructed and launched an experimental rocket. Upon moving to New York City, he embarked on his post-graduate studies in film at Brooklyn College.
James Thayer (JT)
Editor, Motion Graphics Artist
Born outside of Boston, James lived in Bahrain for 2 years, Milan for 5, but spent most of his early years in New York. Now an accomplished editor and storyteller, James attended Vanderbilt University, and held internships at Goldman-Sachs. In 2005 James decided to give up a future on Wall Street to persue his passions in entertainment, and relocated to Los Angeles.
James has contributed significantly to nearly every Evolution project; he has also edited a feature documentary on the history and craft of Scotch Whiskey, as well as worked on shows for Discovery Networks Animal Planet and Discovery Science.
Always working, in his spare time James has worked on several award-winning festival shorts, music videos that can be seen on Fuse as well as the development of internet based original web series
Jeanette DePatie
Director of Interactive Content and Branded Entertainment
For over two decades, Jeanette DePatie has served as a pioneer in interactive technology and content creation. DePatie began her career as cofounder of the multimedia software development company, HEURIS/Pulitzer. From, early on, Jeanette often served as a “professional explainer”—carefully breaking down difficult technology and terminology for investors, analysts and customers. As VP of Marketing and Communications, DePatie continued to make technology accessible with innovative websites, tutorial discs and help systems. After a while, DePatie left HEURIS and founded Propellerhead, a marketing and communications company serving a variety of clients including Southwestern Bell, NTT, The Republic of Tea and Monsanto.
After moving to LA, both Jeanette and her consulting company Propellerhead turned towards content creation. DePatie produced highly innovative enhanced DVD content for many major studios including Classic Media, Warner Home Video, Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Universal, Paramount, HBO and New Line. Projects included interactive content for for “Spawn, The Animated Series”,” The O.C. Season 1”, “Imagine, A Cinderella Story”, “Full House Season 1 and 2”, “The Magic School Bus”, “Static Shock” and “Princess Diaries 2”. Jeanette and Propellerhead were also involved in mobile content projects for HP, Intel, and several independent filmmakers for distribution via SD cards for smart phones at the Sundance Film Festival. Additionally, DePatie created special mobile content for Think Mobile starring Sid Caesar.
DePatie has also been involved in some exciting recent projects, producing HD DVD content for Microsoft and Blu-ray content for Paramount, including the recently released Spiderwick Chronicles interactive guide; and helping to produce a multi-city mall tour and broadband contest for Konami’s American Idol game. These days, DePatie is often found reprising her role as an “explainer” helping content creators, technology folks and marketing people alike to understand social networking, UGC and viral content creation.