Sabrina Caluori has been elevated to the position of Executive Vice President and Head of Marketing and Brand Strategy for Nickelodeon, leading on- and off-air consumer marketing, brand creative and content launches globally across the brand’s linear, digital and social platforms. The announcement was made today by Brian Robbins, President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon; and Chief Content Officer, Kids & Family for Paramount+, to whom Caluori will report. The appointement follows the departure of Jenny Wall, who stepped down this week from her position as Chief Marketing Officer at Nickelodeon.
In her expanded remit, Caluori will oversee brand and creative marketing, supporting content for Nick’s linear networks and the Nick content developed for Paramount+. She also will continue to develop consumer campaigns designed to connect Nickelodeon and its franchises with kids and families around the world. Additionally, Caluori will add Vincent Arrico, Senior Vice President and Executive Creative Director, Nickelodeon; and Sara Francis, Vice President of Marketing Operations, to her existing direct reports.
Caluori joined Nickelodeon in August of 2021 as Senior Vice President, Brand and Content Strategy, overseeing global brand strategy, original programming launches, media planning, digital and social media, and marketing analytics. Prior to Nickelodeon, Caluori spent 12 years at HBO, most recently as EVP of Marketing & Digital Media where she built and led the digital and social marketing function across all brands and programming. She built massive, global franchises for iconic series including Game of Thrones, Euphoria, Westworld and Silicon Valley, leading to three Interactive Emmy wins and a Cannes Lion Grand Prix. Additionally, Caluori ran the publishing and editorial operations for all of HBO’s digital platforms including overseeing the go-to-market strategy for HBO’s entrance to direct-to-consumer streaming with HBO NOW.
Before joining HBO, Caluori headed the account team at the interactive agency Deep Focus, where she oversaw digital media, creative and publicity for clients such as HBO, Miramax, Google, Court TV and Comedy Central. In 2015, Caluori was named to the Hollywood Reporter NextGen list, in 2016 she was inducted into the American Advertising Federation (AAF) Advertising Hall of Achievement and in 2019 she was named to Ad Age’s 40 under 40 list.
Nexus Studios has signed Raya and the Last Dragon director Carlos López Estrada to its creative roster. Bringing with him an impressive and eclectic body of work, Estrada has garnered global recognition and a bevy of industry accolades, including an Academy Award nomination and a Latin Grammy win. Seamlessly crossing genres and techniques, to deliver sleek mixed media commercials, award-winning indie features and 3D animated blockbusters for Disney to live theater productions and TV, the Mexican-born, L.A.-based director weaves humor, cultural heritage and spoken word into his storytelling.
Estrada’s concept-driven music promos showcase a variety of innovative techniques, including bringing Billie Eilish to gruesome tears, casting a troop of real baboons for pop-quartet Caged Animals, creating a cut out performance from Hamilton star Daveed Diggs, and bringing together Katy Perry and Pikachu. His debut feature, Blindspotting, propelled him into notoriety after its premiere at Sundance and subsequent release by Lionsgate. President Obama marked it as one of his favorite movies of the year and it earned Estrada a First-Time Feature nomination by the Directors Guild of America, with a TV sequel in 2021.
Estrada was named as one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch, and his work has been featured in SXSW, LA Film Festival, Cartoon Network and the Hammer Museum as well as high profile publications including Vice, TIME Magazine and The Guardian. He is currently directing a thought-provoking, animated feature documentary in development at Nexus Studios, set to release in 2023, as well as the live-action adaptation of Disney’s Robin Hood.
“When I took over as director, I had set goals for Animationsinstitut, laid down in the strategy paper Filmakademie 2030 — most notably the financial security of the institute as well as the specialization ‘Character Animation’ and the comprehensive integration of the issue ‘intellectual property (IP)’ into our curriculum. We were able to achieve all of this,” notes Hykade. “In addition, we pushed on with the internal internationalisation of the institute, successfully navigated our conference FMX through turbulent times and expanded our research & development for the benefit of our students. Above all, however, we succeeded in offering our students a fully fledged course of studies during the difficult time of the pandemic. My thanks go to all those who have actively supported Animationsinstitut in rising to these challenges.”
Success has proved Hykade right: In the rankings of the specialist press, Animationsinstitut is regularly listed among the world’s top 10 animation schools. The institute’s productions have won the most important international prizes – most recently, the photorealistic CGI production The Beauty caused a sensation with a Student Academy Award.
“I would have liked to see more dynamism regarding our goal of becoming a leading European region for animation, VFX and games. Other countries are pulling ahead of Baden-Württemberg in various fields. But I am convinced: We could make up ground if we focused on the development of intellectual property in all animation crafts. Perhaps a new generation of young artists can support us in taking the necessary steps,” Hykade adds. “Our maxim in the past years has been: ‘The person is more important than the project.’ It is my hope that our students as well as our team and the lecturers keep up this spirit.”
The accomplished filmmaker and educator will likely recommit more of his time to his own work, with several film, book and music projects for a range of audiences on his docket. “My time as head of Animationsinstitut was so exciting and moving that it definitely calls for an artistic treatment. I have two different working titles that I have yet to choose from: ‘The Beautiful Kingdom’ or ‘The Boss Who Cried.'”
