EXCLUSIVE: AGBO, the Russo Brothers’ media company, has established an innovation department and is expanding its physical and virtual production capabilities under the leadership of an experienced leadership team.
Under the new structure, AGBO’s technology experts will develop their own creative tools with the aim of promoting production innovation and cost efficiency. The idea is that AGBO and its creative partners can access the company’s new tools at every stage of development, production and post-production.
Innovation will span three industries: production technology, immersive technology and creativity. It will be led by Jake Aust, who was recently promoted to Chief Innovation Officer at AGBO. Over the course of his 20-year career, Aust has been a producer of Russia-related titles such as television series The office And Community as well as the feature film cherry. He was also an executive producer on The gray man and most recently served as president of physical production at AGBO.
The creation of an innovation department follows a number of key hires, including two new partners: Donald Mustard, the director and “teacher” of Fourteen days; and corporate strategist Chris Brearton, who played a key role in handling MGM’s $8.45 billion sale to Amazon. Chief Creative Officer Angela Russo-Otstot will also help oversee innovation efforts, among her other responsibilities.
A number of notable industry veterans will now report to Aust, including Glenn Derry, President of Production Technology; Josh Andersen, president of Immersive Technology; and Ryan McNeely and John Cranston, creative directors.
Derry played a central technological role in cutting-edge productions such as Avatar, The jungle Book, Real steel And Minority Report. He is credited with introducing the concept of “virtual production” to the film and gaming industries. In his AGBO position, Derry will continue to develop and expand the company’s virtual production pipeline to enhance artists’ storytelling skills and optimize production economics.
Andersen comes to AGBO from Epic Games, where he was a lead programmer and a key figure in game development. For more than a decade at Epic, he helped develop video game franchises such as: Fourteen days, Shadow complex And Infinity Blade and was heavily involved in metagame design and mobile game development. Andersen’s Immersive Technology team will be fully integrated into AGBO and will operate across all media sectors.
McNeely and Cranston co-founded the virtual production studio VisualCreatures, which AGBO acquired in 2023. They have worked with a number of major companies including Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Allstate, Apple and Epic Games.
“Having worked closely with Ryan, John and Josh at Epic Games over the years, I have seen firsthand the dedication and ingenuity they bring to every project. With Jake at the helm, this team will fulfill AGBO’s long-term goal of developing completely original intellectual property from the ground up in-house,” said Mustard. “Together we are forging a dynamic, silo-free pipeline designed to seamlessly share assets between expressions that exist in different media and different narratives – a critical point in our evolution as a modern studio.”
“Jake, Glenn, Josh and the entire innovation team will lead a strategic evolution of our brand. They bring expertise from bold filmmaking, television and video game production, where they have leveraged decades of cutting-edge technologies,” said Russo-Otstot. “Their collective mastery of production innovation, immersive technology and new tools supports a central pillar of AGBO’s transformative approach to driving creative breakthroughs and unlocking practical efficiencies in universe building and storytelling.”
“At AGBO, we pride ourselves on defying industry norms and pushing the boundaries of traditional production to deliver exceptional entertainment across all media platforms,” said Aust. “Now equipped with the sharpest minds in the industry, our innovation team will usher AGBO into an exciting new era of large-scale universe storytelling that maximizes the most advanced technological tools available to empower artists to reach new creative heights and beyond “To provide more meaningful opportunities for fans to explore, play and experience our world-building.”