Reel FX studio’s award-winning commercial division has teamed up with Shilo Founder/Executive Creative Director Jose Sebastian Gomez to form ATK PLN, a new strategic creative group. Emmy winner Gomez is joined in the studio’s leadership by Executive Producer Jim Riche (formerly Head of Production for Digital Domain) and Managing Director David Bates. The trio will call on their expertise across VFX, design, production, interactive media, branding and marketing to deliver comprehensive creative solutions for clients.
Working in live design, animation and live action to offer clients highly tailored visual storytelling services, ATK PLN leverages diverse in-house creative disciplines shared between its new Hollywood studio, Montreal and Dallas locations. The team has already created dynamic work for major clients including AT&T, Fox Racing and MADD. ATK PLN will also partner with sister companies Flight School for their in-depth expertise at the intersection of technology and entertainment, and Reel FX Animation to tap its Golden Globe-nominated entertainment talent and experience for a wide range of projects.
“The landscape of the marketing and advertising worlds is changing all around us, and the changes are coming at light speed. The modes and methods of communication have changed, and the old ways of working no longer stand,” said Bates. “New solutions for a new paradigm begin with a complete rethinking of what we’re doing, and not just how we’re doing it … By leveraging Shilo’s design philosophy and creative finesse and Reel FX’s wide scope of technical expertise, we will come together as a powerful content studio.”
Bates returned to Reel FX in 2015 after six years in a strategic leadership role at Bedrock Manufacturing. He got his start in creative marketing for FOSSIL, spending nearly a decade in multiple roles, developing international brand standards as well as leading the creative vision of the in-store experience worldwide. He left FOSSIL to join Reel FX in 2002, evolving to become Head of Commercial Production, bolstering in-house talent and broadening the scope of branded projects.
“When I joined David Bates at Reel FX almost two years ago we created a vision to elevate the company to the next level, challenging the status quo of the advertising community to offer a new, unique approach to creative problem solving,” said Riche. “Bringing on Jose Gomez and his creative vision to our team at ATK PLN is allowing us to turn our ideas into reality. I am excited about how this forward-thinking team will continue to evolve with the changing market.”
