Chris Stonich and four senior executives have acquired TV marketing and promotions firm Lussier Productions from founding partner and promo vet Lynne Lussier (left). Lussier will remain a creative consultant to the firm, while Stonich serves as president, chief creative officer and managing partner.
“It’s time to focus on some other things in life,” says Lussier, who’s been working in television promotion for more than 40 years. “Certainly Chris is capable and super talented. We’ve built a really good company - both on the public front and internally. We have a strong and a deep bench of talent here at Lussier.”
“We’re not a big company, but I think we are known for having really good customer service, and really great editors and edits. We tell stories in surprising ways, and we are thought of as being creatively strong,” says Stonich.
Lussier currently counts such companies as ABC, NBC, Fox, the Walt Disney Co., 20th Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Spike, A&E, FX and Yahoo! among its clients. Lussier helps studios and networks craft promos, create upfront presentations and develop brand campaigns.
Ryan Fioravanti, Tim Grey, Scott Lauritzen and Terry Zitnick join Stonich as partners in the firm, and the team plans to expand from traditional TV outlets into new and social media, motion graphics post production, integrated marketing and original TV series development.
Lussier, who came up through the promo ranks at CBS and NBC, launched her company 16 years ago, and employees such as Stonich, Grey, Zitnick came on board soon thereafter.
Fioravanti, who previously served as Lussier’s technology chief before heading to Deluxe Digital Studio, will design and create a new state-of-the-art, 12,000-square-foot production facility for the firm in Burbank, Calif. Fioravanti returns to the company as director of post production and technology, and senior finishing editor.
“This physical production ‘Utopia’ is critical because it enables us to do things that are a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, and always more technically advanced, while still adhering to our strict demand for creative and operational excellence,” said Stonich in a statement.
Zitnick, who’s been a writer and producer at Lussier for the past 15 years, is now senior managing editor and a minority partner. Grey and Lauritzen both have been named partner and executive creative director.
