Chick Russell Communications – a creative development company producing visionary inspirational experiences

Since 2003 Chick Russell has been president of Chick Russell Communications (CRC), a creative development company that designs visionary + inspirational experiences. The company creates next-generation interactive, media, shows and environments for governmental, cultural and entertainment organizations worldwide. CRC provides innovative brand communications, strategy, planning, design, production and project management to meet client goals.

As president of CRC, Mr. Russell has collaborated on projects with a wide array of organizations, including the Walt Disney Company, the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, Universal Dubai, the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History, Paramount Studios, the White House, Lucasfilm, Warner Brothers, Honda, the San Diego Museum of History, Paramount Studios, the U.S. Navy, Elvis Presley Enterprises, FedEx, Chinawood Studios, Idealab, the Atlanta Braves, Universal Sentosa Singapore, the San Diego Museum of History, Everland Korea, the Aquarium of the Pacific, Evolution Robotics and the Franklin Institute.

From 2000 to 2002 Mr. Russell was vice president of interactive strategy at Young & Rubicam Advertising in Irvine, California, where he led digital brand and e-commerce development and grew the online presence of clients such as Lincoln Vehicles, Sony Digital Imagining, and Sony Aibo Robotics.

From 1988 to 1999 Mr. Russell was senior writer-producer at Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, California, the think-tank, R & D, theme park design and resort planning division of the Disney Company. He worked on Disney corporate branding initiatives and developed cultural projects for the Museum of the American West, the Fort Worth Zoo, and National Geographic. He created media projects for the ABC Network and ESPN and led the development of interactive learning and entertainment projects at Disney parks around the world including:

Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in Orlando
Disneyland and California Adventure in Anaheim
Walt Disney Studios Paris

For his final Disney project, Mr. Russell wrote the park-wide concept scripts and led creative development of two lands at Tokyo DisneySea, hailed “a blockbuster hit” by the Wall Street Journal, which continues to draw over 11 million visitors per year.

And from 1983 to 1987 Mr. Russell was corporate public relations media manager at Getty Oil Company headquarters in Los Angeles, California, a multinational Fortune 50 company. Mr. Russell developed branding, marketing, government affairs, and employee communication programs as well as programs for the Getty Villa Museum in Malibu.

Mr. Russell holds a Master’s degree in communication arts and a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles. He has a media management certificate from USC’s Annenberg School for Communications and an advanced scriptwriting certificate from UCLA. And he is a member of the National Council of Public History, the American Association of Museums, the Western Museums Association, the Producers Guild of America, the Association of Science-Technology Centers, and the National Association for Interpretation.

Philip Bloom has been designing unique, world-class immersive environments for over 20 years—environments that manipulate your senses to transport you to impossible places. During this time he has gained the reputation of a dedicated professional with an uncanny ability to manage every detail of complex design and fabrication projects. He infuses every creative design with a deep knowledge of specialty fabrication to deliver innovated solutions for one-of-a-kind projects.

In Addition to his work with CRC, Mr. Bloom is founder of American Scenic, which provides design and production consulting services for entertainment and learning environments. Clients include Universal Studios, Forrest Lawn Memorial Parks, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, Midland Center for the Arts, The Jurassic Institute and the Pirate Soul Museum.

American Scenic is known for its ability to seamlessly coordinate everything required for state-of-the-art experiences, including architecture, structural engineering, show & ride engineering, area development, show production, special effects, audio engineering and show lighting.

Prior to American Scenic, Mr. Bloom established the west coast office of The Nassal Co., transforming this scenic fabrication company into a successful design-build specialty construction contractor. He developed innovative design-build methodologies for scenery and themed construction which controlled costs with pricing guarantees in early phase projects. During this time Mr. Bloom designed and produced projects for clients like Universal Studios, Sony, Disney, LEGOLand, Gap and McDonald's.

Before Nassal, Mr. Bloom was one of the creators of "The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man" ride at Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park in Orlando, Florida. He helped pioneer a new method for integrating 3-D film projection with show sets to create a seamless immersive environment for guests on a moving vehicle. The result was so convincing guests truly believed they were flying through a super-hero adventure! "Spider-Man" won numerous awards for its creativity and innovations and is regarded as a landmark theme park ride.

Prior to Universal, Mr. Bloom was a show set designer at Walt Disney Imagineering in Glendale, California. Here he had the opportunity to design every type of attraction and environment found in large, state-of-the-art theme parks, including rides, theater shows, stunt shows, walk-through attractions, themed facades, interactive games, sports attractions, children's playgrounds, animal exhibits, restaurants and shops. One of his many accomplishments was figuring out how to send a tram full of visitors into an oilfield earthquake and flood that explodes into a gigantic ball of fire every 10 minutes!

Mr. Bloom began his career as an architectural designer and after a series of rewarding experiences as a set designer for theater shows and motion pictures found a way to merge the two disciplines by becoming a theme park designer. His accomplishments have been recognized with awards from the Themed Entertainment Association and Entertainment Design Magazine. Mr. Bloom holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of Southern California and is a licensed architect.

Ms. Seruto has been the project manager of some of the most exciting cultural exhibitions every built, including:

Tutankhamun: the 18,000 square foot traveling exhibition which opened at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Top of the Rock: the exciting new visitor center at the top of Rockefeller Center in New York City
Port Discovery: the one-of-a-kind kid-powered children's museum in Baltimore, MD.

Ms. Seruto's theatrical background and extensive years of exhibit design and production experience result in a unique and fresh approach to cultural exhibits that are engaging and entertaining.

Prior to starting her own consulting business, Seruto & Company, Ms. Seruto served as Vice President of Lexington Scenery for over 12 years, the largest independent shop in the country, housing complete design and production facilities under one roof, and employing over 200 people. While overseeing many aspects of the organization including estimating and project management, she also built a significant design operation.

Her ability to draw on her varied business and production background, as well as creative experience, provides a comprehensive approach to project development that balances artistic vision with practicality. Her rock solid budgeting and scheduling experience result in projects that are designed responsibly.

She has also fostered a position of respect with a wide range of suppliers and vendors in over 25 years of non-stop production and design work, which is essential to forming the kind of partnerships required for the successful completion of projects.

Ms. Seruto holds a Masters of Arts Degree in Design from California State University and continues to develop her skills through continuing education and management workshops.