Dictionary Films Bolsters Senior Producer Capabilities

Dictionary Films US managing director Chris Rossiter today announced the promotion of Cody McGuire to the senior producer position, as well as the addition of senior producer Joe Kirkendall to the company's full-time staff. Both are based in Chicago.

"The commercial production industry and how we work continue to change, and we are finding it extremely important to be increasingly nimble and hands-on," Rossiter says. "More specifically, we know it's key to our clients' success to be able to work directly with accomplished producers who can bid and oversee the projects they produce. With that in mind, we are very proud to promote Cody McGuire – a client favourite due to his expertise, demeanour, leadership and team spirit – to senior producer.

"We are also thrilled to stack the deck even further by adding Joe Kirkendall in the same position," Rossiter continued. "Joe has become one of our go-to producers over the past several years. He always brings out the best in everyone, and his contributions to our projects speak for themselves."

McGuire's production experience traces back to 2009, when he started with Dictionary Films as an intern following his graduation from the University of Kansas. Quickly rising to the producer position, McGuire has since  produced projects of all sizes for countless top-tier brands and their agencies, including Allen Edmonds, Arrow Electronics, Cars.com, The Chicago Bears, Hillshire Farm, Honda, Illinois Tourism, Kellogg's, One Chicago, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Walgreens, and Wilson Sporting Goods.

"It's a real honour to be part of Dictionary Films, and to continue producing projects alongside our deep pool of forward-thinking directors," McGuire explained. "Our familiarity and close proximity with post-production also presents extremely valuable benefits for our clients. From one unique project to the next, delivering on the most ambitious expectations of our agency and brand partners gets more challenging, and more rewarding, every day."

A graduate of Indiana University and a staple of Chicago film production for nearly 15 years, Kirkendall has spent most of the past seven years freelancing for Dictionary Films. His credits for the company include producing commercials for Allen Edmonds, Corona, The Chicago Bears, Foot Joy, Frontier Communications, Helix, Home Depot, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and many others.

"I truly feel we have a great collaboration throughout the shooting process, not only between the various facets of our production teams, but also between our staff and the post departments of Cutters Studios," Kirkendall added. "I'm quite proud of the fact that we have a wide range of wonderfully talented people from the start of a shoot through the final days of editing. It's a great environment to be part of."