Ben Brown Joins BOND, Reuniting with Wayne Watson to Lead AV as Co-Presidents

Brown arrives effective immediately; Watson takes the expanded title after two years leading the division

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- BOND, the three-time Clio Entertainment Agency of the Year, has hired Ben Brown as President, Head of AV, effective immediately. Wayne Watson, who has led the division for the past two years, takes the same title, and the two will lead together. Both report to co-founder and CEO Seth Phillips Althoff and will work closely with co-founder Luke Silver-Greenberg to supercharge the offering.

The two will lead in distinct but collaborative lanes, each staying hands-on creatively while sharing responsibility for developing BOND's breakout team. Brown and Watson are highly esteemed with clients and colleagues alike, built on the same standard of excellence for the work. Together they widen what the divisions — and what the people inside it can become.

Brown arrives from ZEALOT, where he served as SVP and established the company's theatrical division, with cuts on campaigns for Apple, Amazon MGM, Paramount, Sony, Warner Bros., Disney, A24, Searchlight, and Focus Features. His work includes trailers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Widow's Bay, Is This Thing On?, Eternity, Roofman, Saturday Night, AIR, the A Quiet Place and Sonic the Hedgehog franchises and Here, whose campaign won multiple golds at the Clio Entertainment Awards. He has also worked on campaigns for filmmakers including Martin Scorsese, Yorgos Lanthimos, Bong Joon Ho, Darren Aronofsky, Emerald Fennell, and Derek Cianfrance. Before ZEALOT, he spent nine years at AV Squad — where he and Watson first met — rising from producer to Creative Director, after beginning his career in film development at Rogue Pictures and Silver Pictures.

Watson joined BOND in 2024 after serving as President and Executive Creative Director at Ignition, energizing BOND's AV division raising the bar for creative excellence. Two years later, the work of the team tells its own story: cuts on Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, How to Rob a Bank, The Last House, Resident Evil, Insidious, Anaconda, and the HBO MAX rebrand — a summer in which BOND's work was behind two of the biggest films in the world.

Watson and Brown each helmed a trailer for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, whose launch became the most-viewed campaigns in history and whose $360 million opening this past weekend now stands as the biggest domestic debut of all time.

Watson's two years have also produced a round of promotions across the group.

Patricio Hoter — among the earliest members of BOND's AV department and its standard-bearer for the craft ever since, with Clio and Golden Trailer recognition spanning Insidious, The Pitt, The Penguin, Hacks, and Welcome to Derry and Smile — is promoted to VP, Creative Director, making official what the team has long treated as true. Joining him in new roles:

• Bryan Dobrik to Creative Director
  
  
• Tim Muraviov to Associate Creative Director
  
  
• Michael Yanoska to Lead Editor

"Our growth is always predicated on getting better, not just bigger. Better for our clients and better for our team, because growth is what creates opportunity. Five of the six names in this announcement already work here and we are proud to see them thrive," said Seth Phillips Althoff, Co-Founder and CEO of BOND.

"BOND is built on an idea, and it's right there in the name: that magic connection between people. Wayne has set the bar on this team for what a generous leader looks like, and Ben is made of that same good stuff. These two were in the same room ten years ago with no idea it would lead here, and we're glad it did. Two old friends reconnecting to lead this team is the whole idea, working exactly as it should."

"What a journey these two years have been. This team's hard work is paying off everywhere you look — part of two of the biggest movies in the world this year, and fantastic work for clients across nearly every theatrical and streaming studio. We're riding real momentum. Having Ben join just as we're catching fire is like pouring rocket fuel into the mix. This industry is as competitive as it's ever been, and to join forces with someone this talented, who's also a really close friend — I feel pretty lucky. What this team can do together is limitless," said Wayne Watson, President, Head of AV.

"I'm incredibly excited to team up with my friend Wayne and the talented AV team at BOND. There's something especially inspiring about joining a company whose work reflects such passion, care, and creative excellence. I've admired BOND's bold creative ambition for years. Their work not only captures attention, but leaves a lasting impression. In an increasingly competitive and challenging marketplace, that kind of meaningful, memorable, and insightful marketing feels more important than ever," said Ben Brown, President, Head of AV.

"Wayne and Ben are two of the best in the business. They relentlessly push themselves and the team to create work that captures attention, excites audiences, and delivers results. In today's hyper-saturated landscape, standard trailers and spots simply get lost, but Wayne and Ben consistently collaborate with clients to deliver the kind of bold creative that cuts through the noise and moves the needle," Luke Silver-Greenberg, Co-Founder of BOND.

About BOND

BOND is built on the connection between people — the belief that the best work comes from teams who are trusted, developed, and given room to do the best work of their careers. Founded in 2012, by Seth Althoff, Patrick Dillon, Brian Setzer and Luke Silver-Greenberg, the independent agency is Headquartered in the center of Hollywood, the five-building campus on Highland serves as a collaborative hub spanning AV, key art, digital and social, strategy, experiential, and an in-house innovations team. Given this wide offering, the agency has a unique ability to craft truly integrated campaigns, with over 200 people working across theatrical, streaming, gaming, and brands. Recent work includes Spider-Man: Brand New Day, The Odyssey, Dune: Part Three, One Battle After Another, Sinners, Wicked, The White Lotus, The Pitt, Andor, The Penguin, and Battlefield 6 — collaborating with studio partners on campaigns for filmmakers including Christopher Nolan, Denis Villeneuve, Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, and Robert Eggers. BOND is the first agency ever named Clio Entertainment Agency of the Year in back-to-back years, an honor it has taken three times.

SOURCE BOND