LOS ANGELES: Bender/Helper Impact has appointed Nicole Rodrigues VP of its entertainment content division, succeeding Melisa Gotto, who exited the firm in June.
Rodrigues is reporting to Shawna Lynch, EVP, and co-leading a team of 13 staffers, said Dean Bender, founding partner. She is also part of the firm's senior management team.
“One of the key areas on the West Coast is bridging the gap between Silicon Valley and the entertainment
industry,” explained Bender. “[Rodrigues] has worked in Silicon Valley and Los Angeles, so she has a really strong feel for the needs of tech companies, as well as the entertainment business.”
Rodrigues, who most recently led a multi-practice digital team as director of digital entertainment at Miller PR in Los Angeles, is focusing on creating and leading client strategies for the entertainment content division, which includes digital entertainment, home entertainment, and consumer products.
Bender said digital entertainment includes clients such as Hulu. Home entertainment is made up of all DVD and Blu-Ray clients, like Universal and Disney, while consumer products consists of clients such as DC Comics and Jakks Pacific.
In addition to working directly with clients and merging tech and entertainment strategies, Rodrigues will train the staff, she explained.
“I'm very much focusing on growing and mentoring the staff here so that they get better and we get better as a choice group,” she said.
Before her time at Miller PR, Rodrigues worked at Demand Media as director of consumer marketing for more than a year.
From her past job experience, she has work with various technology and entertainment brands, including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Dolby, Yahoo, MobiTV, Sony Playstation, Dailymotion, eHow, Cracked, and LiveStrong.com.
