DDA Public Relations' CEO Lawrence Atkinson and COO John Stannard today announced that Dana Archer has been appointed to President and Partner of DDA PR effective immediately. Previously Executive Vice President, Archer's new position will see her assume responsibility for all aspects of DDA's business and personnel in the Los Angeles and New York offices, with a remit to broaden the company's worldwide motion picture and television practice.
During her tenure, Archer has expanded DDA's footprint in Los Angeles and most recently setting up offices in New York, led by Alyssa Grinder, and further solidifying DDA's ability to provide 24-hour service via offices in the United States and London. She has successfully integrated the US domestic publicity and strategic counsel divisions expanding the scope of services that DDA offers their clients.
Atkinson and Stannard said: "As the requirements of our clients have become truly global, our presence in the US has become increasingly important, and Dana's proven ability to drive the business in North America, and by extension the rest of the world, made her the perfect choice to become a partner in our business."
Archer continued: "Lawrence and John are ideal partners in this endeavor, providing seasoned leadership and strong financial sensibilities. Combined we bring a wealth of experience across a broad spectrum of distributors, filmmakers and financiers worldwide and are excited to continue to evolve DDA's offerings in providing global service to our clients."
In 2009, Lawrence Atkinson and John Stannard acquired a majority stake in DDA via a management buy-out (MBO) from Chairman and founder Dennis Davidson, who runs DDA Consulting, the company's senior-executive level strategic consulting practice. Archer will join Atkinson and Stannard as partners where she is hands on with a roster of corporate clients, including: Participant Media, Worldview Entertainment,
Focus Features International, Lakeshore Entertainment and the Dubai International Film Festival. Archer also handles both domestic and international film campaigns including festival work at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes and Toronto, - seeing projects from announcement stage through production and release in every major territory. Archer's recent projects include: Nu Image's forthcoming Berlin title Lovelace,
Peter Webber's Emperor, Alberto Arvelo's Libertador, Zhang Yimou's The Flowers of War, Terrence Malick's To the Wonder and
Michael Hoffman's Gambit.
After graduating with a BA in Political Science and English, Archer enrolled in Southwestern University School of Law but soon after embarked on her career in Los Angeles with veteran publicist
Warren Cowan at
Warren Cowan & Associates. Since then she has had stints at B/W/R Public Relations and SWPR Group, finally joining DDA in 2009. Archer was named by The Hollywood Reporter as the "Next Gen Class of 2011," their annual issue which lists "35 men and women, age 35 and under, poised to become the industry's future leaders."
Now in its 5th decade, DDA Public Relations and DDA Event Management combine to form the largest independent agency in the entertainment sector. DDA offers a truly global reach for filmed entertainment with divisions including: international, US & UK, corporate, digital, consulting, brands and event management. In addition the company has a full-staff on-hand at international festivals such as Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Dubai and Toronto and recently established a joint venture called DDA Blueprint, which brings television-industry expertise to the DDA Group of companies.
