Buster and its print design unit, BusterINK, have both expanded their teams of senior personnel.
Press release from Buster:
Los Angeles, CA –- Buster and its print design unit BusterINK, have both expanded their teams of senior personnel. Brad Roth and Mark Feldstein, principals of Stun Creative, the parent company of both Buster and BusterINK, made the announcement.
BusterINK has named Kimberly Leass as its Vice President of Production, while Josh Mintz has been brought on as staff Creative Director. Concurrently, Buster has named Joel Lava as Motion Graphics Creative Director and Live Action Director.
Recent projects from Buster run the gamut from multifaceted brand launch campaigns to buzzworthy spots. Highlights include work for A&E’s “Duck Dynasty”, FX’s “Louie”, History’s “Top Gear”, Spike’s “Video Game Awards”, Bravo’s “Kathy” (Griffin), Disney’s “So Random”, the commercial campaign for Dove Men and network branding for ABC News, OWN, and the launch of FXM – the FX movie channel.
In less than one year since its formation, BusterINK has created and produced print campaigns for many high profile TV programs on behalf of both network and cable channel clients. Among these have been work for NBC’s “Today Show” and “Rock Center,” History Channel’s “Top Gear,” A&E’s “Duck Dynasty,” and Oxygen’s “Glee Project,” among numerous others.
Kimberly Leass, VP of Production for BusterINK oversees projects for a variety of networks covering both print and interactive campaigns from concept to delivery. She is also responsible for building and managing the production team and overseeing department operations. Among the clients with whom she currently works are A&E, CNN, Current TV, Food Network, ABC, FEARnet, G4, NBC, Oxygen, Nickelodeon, Sony, TNT and History Channel.
Kimberly previously worked for MTV, USA Network, Bravo and was in the senior management staff of 2 other entertainment advertising agencies. Key successes include launching USA Network’s print rebrand of Character's Welcome, Countless Bravo shows including many seasons of “Top Chef” and “Project Runway”, Syfy's “Caprica”, 7 seasons of US Open campaigns, Food Network Star, the “Beavis and Butthead Mike Judge Collection”, and History Channel's “Ice Road Truckers 3D” smoking Billboard.
Josh Mintz is a Creative Director at BusterINK. His multi-disciplinary approach to branding comes from a lifelong obsession with fine art, music and graphic design.
Josh got his early start in the business through traditional printmaking and screen-printing as a young student and then running a San Diego-based automated comic coloring company at age 19. Mintz attended Rhode Island School of Design, where he studied filmmaking, and UC San Diego, where he was influential in creating the "Computing in the Arts” major. He took over his professor's side job as Photoshop Instructor at UCSD's Extensions program for two years, before moving to LA to become Creative Director of a national music/lifestyle magazine.
Years later, Mintz designed a series of screen-printed political posters prominently featured at Shepard Fairey's art gallery that caught the eye of Crew Creative, which gave Mintz his big break into entertainment marketing in the position of Sr. Art Director. Beyond Crew, he has worked for bpg as Sr. Art Director and Associate Creative Director of the print department and also for And Company as Sr. Art Director.
Mintz is also the singer/songwriter of the rock band Friend Slash Lover, whose first EP gained great reviews from FlavorpillLA, The Huffington Post and Music Connection Magazine -- noting Friend Slash Lover as a “band to watch.”
A graduate of Northwestern University, Joel Lava worked on a Chicago-based film crews after his college graduation. Shortly thereafter, he taught himself motion graphics, and became employed by the renowned visual effects company Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in its Art Department based in Marin, CA.
Relocating to Los Angeles, Lava worked as a designer, animator, art director and live action director for many top motion graphics companies -– including freelance gigs at Buster and also three year stint at the Famous Group as Creative
Director. Now Joel is back at in a permanent position at Buster as Creative Director / Live Action Director – working on projects for History Channel, Ubisoft, Nickelodeon and MTV.
Lava has worked on several commercial campaigns, music videos, broadcast promos and digital projects during his career. His clients have included Gatorade, Cisco, Dairy Queen, Sprint and Nike. He is the winner of numerous industry awards, including the Telly, FWA, and SXSW FilmFest.
