RIAD Represents Expands with New Talent & New Hire

Recognizing the changing nature of how clients engage with their creative partners, artist management agency RIAD Represents, led by Sherry Riad, has broadened its roster of talent to include the award-winning digital communications shop the STUDIO. Led by industry icon Mary Nittolo, the STUDIO specializes in 2D/3D animation, graphic design, digital content, character development and strategic thinking.

Additionally, RIAD has added Rose Wind Jerome as an Agent, responsible for new business development for the company’s talent roster, which includes photographers Michele Asselin, Thierry Des Fontaines, Troy House, Shaniqwa Jarvis, Keena, Michael Prince, Joe Windsor- Williams, Bil Zelman and now the STUDIO.  Prior to joining RIAD, Jerome was the Program Associate at The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, NY

“The addition of the STUDIO and Rose are two important pieces to the RIAD puzzle and how we want to grow as a company,” Riad says. “Clients today want to work with companies that can provide them with a broad range of talent and services, and bring them together in ways that benefit the project creatively, as well as save time and money. That’s why the STUDIO is such a natural extension for us. Similarly, Rose, with her vast experience developing the careers of artists, is a great addition for RIAD as well.”  

Founded over 25 years ago by Nittolo, the STUDIO specializes in bringing strategic vision, imagination, artfulness, delight and clarity to the world of communication. In the process, they’ve won praise for the quality of their 2D/3D animation, graphic design, digital content, character development and strategic thinking. 

Their clients include major advertising agencies such as TBWA, FCB, The Burns Group, Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis, McGarry Bowen, DePirro/Garrone, Goodby Silverstein, MomentumWW, Y&R, Walton Isaacson, Euro, Digitas, Grey, and BBDO; and brands like Chase, Verizon, Pfizer, Pepsi, Sony, Kraft Foods, Colgate, Novartis, Avon, Bacardi, Starbucks, Turner Broadcasting, GE, Best Buy, Target among many others.

For Nittolo, who prior to working with RIAD preferred to handle new business development in-house, the decision to work with an independent firm was not taken lightly. It was a decision made easier by the sheer force of Riad’s personality and her vision.

“You have to have a lot of trust when you work with independent artist reps because you’re putting a lot in their hands,” Nittolo says. “I knew Sherry before we started working together and have always respected her work ethic and overall knowledge of the media business and what clients are looking for today from creative vendors. This feels like a very natural move for us.” 

The same can be said of the addition of Rose Wind Jerome. Riad first met Jerome when she was facilitating the year round programming at Center for Photography at Woodstock starting in 2013, but her career in photography stretches back to the early 2000s when she began as an assistant and studio manager for several acclaimed photographers, including Regan Cameron. She took that experience strictly to the business side when she became an agent’s assistant at the artist agency Art + Commerce, New York, in 2010, before returning back to working directly with photographers in 2011.

“RIAD’s artists’ work is stellar, and I’m excited to work with such great talent. I’m impressed with all Sherry is doing -- her gallery studio tours, her blog, her extensive social network presence,” Jerome says. “She has vision for RIAD as a broad creative resource and I’m proud to be a part of what she is building.”