Digitas and The Third Act Snag Paul Kontonis, Eric Korsh and Teal Newland

New Hires Augment Agency's Growing Digital Content Platform

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Sep 27, 2010, 09:41 ET

NEW YORK, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Stephanie Sarofian, SVP/Managing Director of Digitas' brand content unit The Third Act:, announced the hire of Paul Kontonis, Eric Korsh and Teal Newland as VPs, Group Directors, Content Strategy and Development. Kontonis, Korsh and Newland bring years of strategic leadership and branded entertainment experience adding to the The Third Act's: growing digital content platform.

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"The Third Act: delivers strategy and innovative content ideas to marketers, and the demand is greater than ever requiring us to add more talent," said Sarofian. "Adding three seasoned pros with a diverse set of brand building and entertainment skills bolsters our platform offering scalable content ideas for tier-one brands. We are thrilled to add Paul, Eric and Teal to our team and equally excited to see the results of their forward-thinking leadership for our clients and prospects."

The Third Act: drives innovation in digital and brand content

The Third Act: team is responsible for the growing digital content platform, leading digital content strategy development, sourcing digital content creator partnerships and crafting digital brand content offerings that are borne out of insight and drive business results. Among its successes are Kraft's much lauded "Real Women of Philadelphia" and Kraft's partnership and content strategy for the award winning Mom Life series.

The Third Act: is also the force behind Digital Content NewFront (DCNF), an industry-changing, premiere event in brand content. As an annual marketplace for brand content and digital media, it's become a venue for titans of the ad industry and Hollywood to forge partnerships and give birth to new ideas. In its third year, DCNF has become the most successful brand content event of the year packing in 600+ attendees and garnering 250,000+ live streams.

Paul Kontonis, brand entertainment expert from MATTER

A brand entertainment expert formerly of MATTER, Kontonis will lead the development of original and partnered digital brand content entertainment offerings across clients. His experience is deep-rooted and as an interactive media and brand content veteran, he has executive produced over 25 web series including successful online branded entertainment for Warner Bros, Armor All, Experian and Holiday Inn Express, among others.

Prior to the Third Act: Kontonis was the Senior Vice President of Branded Entertainment of MATTER, an Edelman Entertainment and Sports Marketing Company. Additionally, he co-founded For Your Imagination (2007), a pioneering web video studio that developed, produced and promoted original web series that was selected by TVWeek in 2008 as one of five web video studios most likely to succeed. His reputation as an industry authority is remarkable -- he appears in a number of publications and digital media books including the Documentary Filmmakers Handbook and is a founding member of The International Academy of Web Television. Kontonis also co-founded BigScreen LittleScreen in 2007 through Meetup.com. It is New York City's longest running showcase of new web video productions and has premiered many of the web's best series.

Kontonis will be speaking on digital brand content on October 18 at Variety's upcoming Entertainment and Technology Summit as well as on October 19 at Digital Hollywood 's panel The Hollywood Producer -- The Real Deal: Reinventing the Strategy, the Platforms and the Revenue Streams.

Eric Korsh, brand entertainment and production expert from Scout Productions

Korsh joins The Third Act: after working as COO of Scout Productions (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Big Ideas for a Small Planet, How to Get the Guy), GM/EP of Emmy winning series Sox Appeal, and producing a myriad of commercial and web content across the United States. At Scout, he oversaw all branded entertainment for all television/digital properties, from product placement to cross-promotional cable network deals. He also managed Scout's international licensing and merchandising deals, as well as U.S. network relationships.

At Sox Appeal, Korsh oversaw the entire P&L for every aspect of the brand-funded dating series, from digital, ad sales and creative through production and marketing. While as an Executive Producer at Believe Media and through his former production company Picture Park (working with Oscar winners Errol Morris, Robert Richardson and Hank Corwin), he also created projects for Walmart, Sears and Gillette for agencies such as Martin, Y&R, BBDO.

Teal Newland, director and brand content expert from 60Frames Entertainment

Formerly Commercial Director for 60Frames Entertainment, Newland brings deep experience and familiarity within the entertainment and brand content space. At 60Frames, an independent content studio developing original programming for brand integration and digital distribution, she worked with a portfolio of content creators included Joel & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men, Fargo, The Big Lebowski), John August (Corpse Bride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle), and Scott Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum, An Inconvenient Truth), with media and distribution partnerships industry-wide.

Before joining 60Frames, Newland spent six years with Microsoft in global sales management across the company's European and US offices. Newland's last role, based in London, was Head of Multinational Sales, where she led an extended sales and account management team in the development of media, brand entertainment, gaming, and promotional initiatives for global advertisers.

Most recently she consulted for Digisynd, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company (TWDC). Newland helped establish Digisynd's Brand Strategy Team that included content and social media oversight and activation across all major TWDC divisions, including Pixar, Theme Parks & Resorts, Studio, Home Entertainment, Interactive Services, ESPN, and ABC. Newland also served as the interim VP of Brand Strategy for TakePart LLC, the digital division of Participant Media.

About The Third Act:

The Third Act: is Digitas' brand content entity. Working with all of Digitas and with outside talents and partners -- The Third Act: is a change agent -- in developing and supporting new marketing models at scale with content and distribution at the core. Our work is to inspire Digitas, the industry, and our clients in the development of impactful, integrated brand marketing that has sustainable people-inspired content ideas at the core. We pride ourselves on our array of global partners and our tireless discovery of emerging talent and techniques to forward content-centric marketing. The Third Act: is headquartered in New York with resources worldwide.

About Digitas

Digitas is a leading global integrated brand agency, helping the world's biggest brands develop, engage and profit from building profitable relationships with their customers. The Agency pairs media, marketing, technology, creativity, imagination and analytics to ignite emotional bonds between people and brands. Digitas also operates the brand content platform, The Third Act:, the independent healthcare marketing brand, Digitas Health, as well as Prodigious Worldwide, the world's only standalone, global digital productions company. With sister agencies Starcom MediaVest, ZenithOptimedia and Denuo, Digitas is a member of Publicis Groupe's VivaKi—a global digital knowledge and resource center that leverages the combined scale of the autonomous operations of its members to develop new services, new tools, and new partnerships.

Paris-based Publicis Groupe S.A. (Euronext Paris: FR0000130577) is the world's third largest communications group, the world's second largest media counsel and buying group, and a global leader in digital and healthcare communications. With around the world activities spanning more than 104 countries on five continents, the Groupe employs as many as 45,000 professionals.

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