We sat down with Telly-winning Vico Sharabani, Founder and CCO of Telly-winning creative production and design studio, The-Artery.  In his 25 years servicing the advertising and entertainment industries, Vico has worked with companies including Nike, Samsung and AT&T, created effects for projects including The Grand Budapest Hotel, Oceans 8 and Beasts of No Nation and been involved with music videos from Beyoncé to Coldplay. 

Excited to count him and the team among Telly Award Winners!

What is the origin story for The-Artery?

Early on in my career, I was asked a question that came to define the philosophy behind my professional life. The question was whether I was an artist or a technician, as if the two were mutually exclusive. To me, the two are intrinsically connected, and neither is powerful enough if it lacks the other. As my career developed, I always operated from a place of combining artistry and technical innovation within an intentional and informed business structure.

When I started The-Artery, the fundamental mission was to build a home for multidisciplinary artists like myself; we literally built the company around the word “ART” (see our logo). Not only did The-Artery provide a supportive space for people who shared my interdisciplinary approach, it created a work environment that thrived off of  the collaboration and innovation that are nurtured by bringing together individuals interested in everything from production to branding and technology, and from mobile to experiential—people driven not only by their skill sets, but by curiosity and creativity.

What are the major changes you have seen in the industry over the past two years and how has The-Artery adapted to them?

What has been fascinating and encouraging to watch is the trend towards the model we have implemented at The-Artery from its founding. The industry seems to be catching on to the fact that a multidisciplinary approach is both a fun way to engage with this kind of work, and an extremely effective, adaptive, and successful model. This realization is occurring at all levels of the industry, from newcomers to veterans—think, Sir Martin Sorell’s acquisition of MediaMonks. The industry is becoming increasingly aware of the benefits in implementing a multidisciplinary approach. So, in that sense, we are in the privileged position of watching the industry adapt towards us rather than the other way around.

When you are hiring new talent to join your team, what attributes are you looking for?

The core thing we look for in a team member is the skill set and mind set to successfully cross-pollinate across disciplines. Instead of seeking experts that are limited to singular fields. The success of The-Artery lies in a team of multidisciplinary visionaries and innovators who are interested in crafting at a very high level. For example, our EP/MD Deborah Sullivan, brings an enormously successful, long, and varied career to the table, with the experience and understanding of how things work at every stage of their development, Similarly, our creative technologist Gal Eldar, comes from a background in Ancient Greek and philosophy, mixed in with computer science and a strong intuitive sense for the industry. At The-Artery, our goal is to synthesize these incredibly opposing but mutually-beneficial backgrounds such that each client and project gets a 360 degree scope of expertise, creativity, and perspective.

Your areas of expertise as a company keep growing, most recently with the addition of web design. In light of your award winning site, what areas do you envisage expanding into over the next years?

The way that we envision our continued expansion and growth is two-fold. We are confident in the first set of tools and capabilities that we have developed. However, in the coming years, we plan to expand firstly in the activity within each of the verticals that we have already developed (production, branding, design, visual effects) through more volume and innovation, and secondly, to explore technology, data and media as additional capabilities through different partnerships and investments. We are also looking into geographical expansion, and are currently in conversation with a large organization regarding investment towards these ends.