Taylor James Bolsters Team with New Creative Director and Two CG Leads

Creative production studio Taylor James, part of Tag, has today announced three exciting new hires to see in the New Year. Luciano Tapia joins as creative director and Bill Mata and Fola Akinola expand the CG team as CG leads.
Award-winning creative director Luciano Tapia joins Taylor James from MSNBC/NBC where he was lead creative on the branding of the network, its shows and news events (including on-air, off-air, studio and marketing materials). Recently he led all the branding coverage of the 2020 Elections at NBC. He has also worked with clients including Google, BMW, HBO, ESPN, Tiffany&Co, Sephora, Imaginary Forces, Loyal Kaspar and Interbrand to name a few. With a strong background in design and concept development, Luciano brings an in-depth knowledge of brand development and multi-platform campaign leadership to the team at Taylor James. Last year, Luciano’s work on ‘I Am The New History’, which celebrated Black History Month for Universal Kids, picked up a Clio Bronze Award, a Promax Gold Award and was nominated for an Emmy.
Bill Mata, CG Lead at Taylor James comments: “The work at Taylor James is stellar and the group of people I have been lucky enough to work with so far are amazing. I’m hoping to throw my skills into the melting pot of talent and get stuck into everything.”
Fola Akinola, CG Lead at Taylor James, comments: “Taylor James has a willingness to grow and change that will position it well for the future of the CG/VFX industry. My colleagues at Taylor James have all been supportive, generous, and motivated,offering an environment where I can continue to expand and refine my own skill set, while working collaboratively to craft excellent creative and technical solutions for clients.”
Jennifer Dee, VP, Studio Lead at Taylor James comments: “Taylor James has grown and evolved rapidly over 2021 and as we continue to push for growth in 2022, we’re thrilled to have talents like Luciano, Bill and Fola, joining the team and helping us to do so. As the worlds of entertainment and advertising continue to converge, the insight of a creative director like Luciano will be a huge asset to our clients in commercials. At Taylor James we have always sought to provide the highest quality output for our clients and Bill & Fola’s talents will help us continue to deliver craft at scale.”
CG lead Bill Mata joins the team originally from Cincinnati where he has animated his way into credits for Marvel movies and Comcast campaigns alike. Inspired by the stunning visuals of video game animation as a kid, Mata pursued a career in simulation, design, and motion graphics. He has worked with brands such as Edelman, Google, and Nike to name a few.
In addition to Bill and Luciano, Taylor James also welcomes CG lead artist and motion designer Fola Akinola, who transformed his childhood interest in computer graphics and animation into an established career in CG, honing his skills at shops including Ocupop and 1stAveMachine, Absolute Post and Bombastic Inc. With over 12 years of experience, Fola has worked on campaigns for Google, Samsung, The Disney Channel, CBS, Nickelodeon and PBS. A portion of his career also saw him dedicate time to non-profit media company the Lost Bird Project, helping create campaigns highlighting environmental issues, where he expanded his expertise in web and graphic design, CG and VFX, and UX/UI.
From the release:
Luciano Tapia, Creative Director at Taylor James comments: “The incredible level of production, an immense repertoire of creativity and storytelling, coupled with a world class technical know-how is what appealed to me most about Taylor James. The team here are both smart and kind and made up of people from diverse backgrounds with a grasp of creative leadership.”