Elias Arts New York Appoints Y&R's Dante Piacenza to Executive Vice President/General Manager/Executive Producer

Elias Arts New York Appoints Y&R's Dante Piacenza to Executive Vice President/General Manager/Executive Producer

Signals Continued Evolution and Transformation of Company into "Music Agency"

New York, May 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Elias Arts Holdings LLC, http://www.eliasarts.com/, the world's biggest and most awarded commercial music company announced today the appointment of Dante Piacenza as Executive Vice President/General Manager/Executive Producer, Elias Arts New York. With nearly 20 years of advertising industry experience, most recently as acting Head of Production at Young & Rubicam, New York, Piacenza has an impressive record of accomplishments in both the agency and post-production sides of the business. Martin Pazzani, Elias Arts' President & CEO comments, "Our New York office now has the complete leadership team it needs to move forward. Dante's track record of leading teams of creative people and his reputation for producing fully integrated, cross media campaigns, and initiating large-scale production, music and effects driven projects is renowned. Having an exec with this background is not only great for our clients, but it's exciting for our composers and audio identity strategists as well." While at Y&R, Piacenza worked on numerous high profile campaigns for 7UP, AT&T, Xerox, Genworth and Accenture among others.

Elias Arts Evolves

In his new position, Piacenza will work with Jonathan Elias, Founder & COO, Martin Pazzani, CEO and Fritz Doddy, Creative Director in overseeing the continued transformation of Elias Arts from a commercial sound and music production company to a global "music agency," expert at all facets of creating and delivering music including branded entertainment programs, audio identity, and music supervision. According to CEO Pazzani, "Elias Arts has many capabilities beyond the commercial production realm. Dante's arrival signals a continued commitment to evolution in all areas of our business including innovations in audio identity, music supervision, multicultural music, and sound and music for film and television."

In his role as General Manager of Elias New York, Piacenza is charged with:

1. Reintroducing the market to Elias' expanded capabilities including the
company's Audio Identity music/sound/branding services

2. Broadening visibility for Elias' innovative, multicultural music
company Avenida Acceso, http://www.avenidaacceso.com/

3. Consolidating the company's two Manhattan locations into a new combined
space designed to accommodate all Elias' business units under one roof.

4. Helping to open new Chicago, Buenos Aires, and London offices that will
put Elias Arts' people closer to their clientele.

Commenting on the challenges at hand, Piacenza states "there is not a company out there that knows more about utilizing the powers of music and sound to shape brands than Elias Arts and there is a fast-growing appreciation that audio can play a much larger role in creating powerful and integrated brand experiences across all mediums. As a result, the opportunities are significant and exciting."

In another key strategic move designed to broaden the company's creative output and leverage artistry across the company, Elias Arts will begin to cross-fertilize its New York and LA teams with the relocation to New York of David "Witty" Wittman, Associate Creative Director/Composer effective June 1, 2007. Wittman's commercial credits include Nike Tag, which received a Cannes Gold Lion for its distinguished music and the Nike Magnet spot that earned him an AICP honor as well as a Clio for original music. A core composer in Elias' "fifteen2thirty" team, a loose group of composers with sensibilities in the youth market, Wittman is recognized for his compositional talent and young urban vibe. When asked about his move east, Wittman stated "I have had a great seven years working for Jonathan Elias in LA and while that will still continue at a distance, I'm looking forward to working closely with Creative Directors Fritz Doddy and Andres Levin, two major talents in our New York office."

About Elias Arts

For 27 years Elias Arts has used the emotional power of music and sound to launch, grow and reposition the most recognized brands and companies around the world. They have worked with well over 700 of the Fortune 1000 companies and helped to turn numerous startups into everyday brand names. With offices in Los Angeles and New York, and a renowned roster of gifted composers, producers, and marketers, they are the maestros of using music as a powerful integrated marketing tool and brand builder.

Since 2002, Elias Arts has been owned by Seaport Capital, and together they have embarked on a plan to extend the powers of music and sound into new channels, new mediums, and new markets. Elias Arts is now the only music company to employ a staff of professional brand strategists and marketing gurus, who have devised a process that creates 360-degree Audio Identity systems -- a way of using music and sound across all consumer touch points to create brand harmony -- and makes marketing dollars more effective.

With a music supervision department headed by KCRW's tastemaker- extraordinaire Nic Harcourt, a roster of Featured Artists that includes The Pixies' Joey Santiago, and the talented in-house composers assembled and mentored by famed composer Jonathan Elias, Elias Arts is in a class of its own.

Contact for Elias Arts:

Vivian H. Brooks, #508-347-2368

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Elias Arts

CONTACT: Vivian H. Brooks of Elias Arts, +1-508-347-2368

Web site:

http://www.eliasarts.com/
http://www.avenidaacceso.com/

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