• by Larissa Faw , February 10, 2015

Independent agency Palisades MediaGroup may be best known as a "movie shop," due to its work with film studios like The Weinstein Company. But over the past few years, the agency's roster has expanded beyond the entertainment industry to include clients such as Dropbox, Belkin, UGG, Mercury Insurance and BevMo! 

Now, the agency is promoting Laura Jean Bracken from EVP to the newly created role of President/COO to support this growth.

In this role, Bracken will oversee daily operations across the agency's offices in Santa Monica and San Francisco, as well as manage business development, talent and strategy. No one will assume her EVP role as those responsibilities will be absorbed into her new position. 

She will be based in Los Angeles and report to Palisades MediaGroup Founder and CEO Roger Schaffner. 

“Laura has been a part of our talented leadership team and has played a central role in expanding our client roster from 80% film studios to a 50/50 split between entertainment and other industries,” said Schaffner. “Being independent has allowed us to grow in a way that’s best for our talent and our client partners... 2015 looks to be an even more promising year for us at Palisades, and we look forward to the next phase of growth.”

Bracken first joined Palisades MediaGroup in 2010, after managing the San Francisco and Seattle offices of OMD. While at OMD, she grew billings by 50% with new business wins, including State Farm of California, Callaway Golf Company, Autodesk, drugstore.com, Mattress Firm, McAfee and Sun Power. 

“We’ve got top talent, strong resources and have built best-in-class capabilities that have allowed us to grow into some exciting new categories and solve our clients’ business challenges in more innovative ways,” said Bracken.

Founded in 1996, the agency has grown from 50 employees and $200 million in annual client billings in 2010 to over 100 employees and $380 in client billings in 2014.