Trustees
The Roles:
Aardman Animations
The Client:
Aardman is an independent, multi-Academy Award® and BAFTA® award-winning studio. It produces feature films, series, advertising, games, and interactive entertainment. Its productions are global in appeal, novel, entertaining, brilliantly characterised, and full of charm, reflecting the unique talent, energy, and personal commitment of the Aardman team. The studio’s work is often imitated, and yet the company continues to lead the field, producing a rare brand of visually stunning content for cinema, broadcasters, digital platforms, and live experiences around the world.
In November 2018, Aardman became an Employee-Owned organisation, ensuring that the studio remains independent and securing the company’s culture and creative legacy for the future. In this progressive structure, employees are known as partners, and all share the responsibility and rewards associated with ownership. The Aardman Employee Ownership Trust (EOT) oversees the organisation’s governance. The Trust ensures the company is run in the interest of its partners and upholds the values and principles of Aardman’s founders Peter Lord and David Sproxton.
As part of their succession planning, Aardman were seeking new Trustees to join the EOT – to help them shape and support the company as they navigate the next phase of life. Moon Executive Search has worked closely with Aardman over the last few years. Among other appointments, we successfully placed the talented Emma Hardie as their Executive Commercial and Brand Director. We relished the opportunity to join forces in search of skilled Trustees.
The Trust was seeking business leaders with strong financial acumen, Trustee experience, and knowledge of sustainable business practices. The EOT supports Aardman’s Executive Board in its strategic planning, and ensures the studio is operating in line with the guiding principles and values established by the original founders. As such, they needed Trustees with a breadth of expertise, able to advise on specific aspects of Aardman’s vision for the future. It was crucial to build a Board of complementary skillsets to best equip the company for success.
Simon Quinn, Moon’s Director of Search & Leadership Consulting, spearheaded our search campaign, in collaboration with our Founding Director, Vanessa Moon. Firstly, we held extensive discussions with the EOT to comprehend the intricacies of the Trustee role alongside the values and character traits they valued. We crafted a shortlist through a mixture of national advertising and headhunting. A meticulous interview process narrowed this down to three outstanding candidates who perfectly complemented each other. We were confident that this specific combination of Trustees would enhance the Board’s ability to govern, adapt to change, and lead Aardman forward.
We were thrilled when Aardman took our recommendations on board and appointed the following candidates as Trustees.
Deep Sehgal is an experienced and talented filmmaker and the mind behind the Emmy-nominated series Soul Deep. He brings significant film and TV experience to the EOT, along with invaluable insights into Equality, Diversity & Inclusion. He is currently the Head of Creative Diversity at GroupM Motion Entertainment. His commitment to creating a fairer media industry will help Aardman ensure audiences feel heard and represented.
Caroline Norbury OBE is the founder and CEO of Creative UK, an organisation that supports great ideas, champions brilliance and fights for the opportunity for all to thrive creatively. She is a strategic leader with a track record of launching successful ventures and navigating change. With the knowledge to facilitate success within creative industries, her extensive Board and Trustee experience will help guide the EOT through any arising challenges.
A veteran of London's creative scene, Laurence Green utilises his 30 years of experience as a strategist, leader, and founder to advise creative businesses. He built and sold two award-winning creative agencies: Fallon London and 101. As a Director of Effectiveness at IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising), and the editor of two books on marketing practices, he will provide priceless knowledge on promotional strategies. His expert insights on growing a creative business impressed our selection panel. We have no doubt he will be an invaluable asset to the EOT.
Aardman were delighted with the search campaign and our recommendations.
David Pester, Chair of Trustees, commented:
“We were impressed by the search process and the diverse specialisations Moon’s candidates brought to the table. These talented individuals will add a new layer of expertise to the EOT, helping to ensure Aardman remains an animation leader.”
Simon Quinn commented:
“It was a pleasure to collaborate again with the brilliance of Aardman. The brief demanded a highly specific set of skills across various areas, and we're proud to say we delivered exceptional candidates.”
The success of this campaign paved the way for future collaborations between Moon and Aardman – including placing the talented Amy Pearson as their Director of Marketing.
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